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LIRE OF GENERAL LOPEZ, 

AND HISTORY OF THE LATE ATTEMPTED 

REVOLUTION IN CUBA. 



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BY A FLIBUSTIERO. 



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LBAp'15 



LIFE 



OF 



GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ 



TOGETHER WITH A DCTA.CLED HTSTORf OF 



THE ATTEMPTED REVOLUTION OF CUBA, 



FROM ITS FIRST INVASION AT CARDINAS, 



THE DEATH OF LOPEZ, AT HAVANA. 



BY A FLIBUSTIERO. 



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/5 - ^sas- 




LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



CHAPTER 1. 

THE DAWN OF THE AGITATION. 

Early in the spring of 1847, public at- 
tention was called to Cuba by a series of 
articles in the columns of the New York 
Herald, having reference first to its re- 
sources, then to its government., and last- 
ly to the sufferings of its people. The 
first was represented as unnaralleled in its 
brilliancy and abundance ; the second was 
pronounced cowardly, treacherous, cruel, 
exacting, and fiercely oppressive ; the 
third were pictured us at once incredibly 
Gainful and appalling. Each of these 

iitions was strongly forlified by graphi- 
cally told facts, ai^u the three united cre- 
ated a serious stir both among the people 
and the press. It was charged by The 
Herald that the agricultural and mineral 
wealth of Cuba were without precedent ; 
that notwithstanding this glaring fact, its 
inhabitants were wretched and impover- 
ished to an indescribable degree, in con- 
sequence of the despotic and oppressively 
exacting character of its government, 
which beggared them to enrich and up- 
hold the power and standing of the mo- 
ther country, Spain, of which Cuba was 
-che chief support, reliance, and purveyor ; 
that the suffering Cubans, having at 
length determined to shake off the iron 
hand which thus robbed and reduced 
them to the most abject bondage, and by 
virtue of that magnetic sympathy which 
runs betwten freemen and those who 
would be free, claimed the good wishes 
as well as the assistance of the people 
and government of the United States. To 
strengthen this appeal, and popularize 
the subject among the people, U was art- 
fully suggested that Cuba was i lie key of 
the Mexican Gulf, and as such that it was 
dangerous to the well being of this Re- 
public to allow it to remain in the hands 
of a monarchical power, allied like that 
of Spain to the crafty and unscrupulous 



cabinets of Europe, which might at any 
moment with the Spanish sanction, run 
their fleets up the Gulf, and, if they felt 
so disposed, hurl their troops upon our 
shores, and lay at their mercy our whole 
Southern coast. These articles which 
were written with considerable force, 
were extensively copied and commented 
upon by the leading journals of the Union, 
and had the effect, as has since been 
learned, to strike the authorities of Cuba 
with terror. Suddenly, however, for some 
unexplained reason, The Herald ceased 
for a brief season all further allusion to 
the subject ; and on resuming it, look a 
stand the very opposite of what it had 
previously maintained. 

While the community was wondering 
at this singular conduct, while reports 
were Hying that its notorious editor had 
been brought over to this astonishing 
change by certain agents of the Spanish 
government, who had been seen dodging 
in and out of the door leading to his edi- 
torial sanctum, — among others, a leading 
merchant of this city , largely interested 
in Cuban commerce — the interest felt in 
the matter was still further heightened 
by the sudden announcement on the part 
of the New York Sun, that measures were 
in progress for revolutionizing Cuba and 
transforming it from a Spanish depen- 
dency into a free and independent repub- 
lic. This announcement was received at 
first as a mere gasconade ; the public was 
was smilingly incredulous ; its faith in 
the statements emanating from that jour- 
nal was somewhat weak; and it was 
subsequently but slightly strengthened 
when the proprietors of The Sun raised 
the Free Flag of Cuba in front of their 
establishment, and got up a small proces- 
sion composed of Cuban exiles and others, 
which, preceded by a band of musicians 
performing martial airs, marched through 
the leading thoroughfares of the city to 
"hurry up an excitement." The efforts 
of The Sun to popularize the subject 






LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPJEZ. 



weTe greatly neutralized by statements in 
other metropolitan journals, to the effect 
that its leading proprietor was largely in- 
terested in Cuban properties, and that the 
success of a revolution in that Island 
would enrich him by millions ; that it 
was with him a mere monetary specula- 
tion, to secure the success of which he 
was bending every energy to lure brave, 
penniless adventurers into a cause which, 
if triumphant, would render him a Croe- 
sus in wealth, and if disastrous, plunge 
them into irretrievable ruin, and perhaps 
death. Notwithstanding these attacks 
upon his motives, the proprietor of The 
Sun calmly persevered in his course, and 
day after day the columns of that jour- 
nal continued to agitate the subject, and 
to advocate with apparent earnestness 
and force the necessity of immediate 
emancipation in Cuba. By degrees, the 
attacks upon its proprietor lost their force, 
the subject gradually became notorious, if 
not popular, and The Sun began slowly 
to be regarded as the organ of the self- 
styled Revolutionists. 

Gradually items of interest in connec- 
tion with the matter leaked out.- It was 
first privately understood and then pub- 
licly announced that an extensive organi- 
zation was on foot to liberate the suffer- 
ing Cubans, exterminate the Spanish 
power in their isle, render it a republic, 
and then tender it for annexation to the 
United States : that in this organization 
were some of our most able and widely 
known citizens ; that money was to be 
had to any necessary amount, and that no 
less than six millions was already in the 
treasury ; that this organization was 
known to the initiated by the name and 
style of the Cuban Junta, and that this 
Junta consisted in part of wealthy exiled 
Cubans, and the remainder of some of 
our most prominent, and influential men, 
whose names if made public would startle 
the public ; that this Junta had its secret 
agents all over the country, and that these 
were quietly and industriously engaged in 
gathering and selecting men of known 
strength, courage and intelligence, for the 
enterprise ; that the places of rendezvous 
"were principally at the South, say at 
Jacksonville, Fla.,and New Orleans, La., 
to which localities men and munitions 
were being daily and quietly transferred ; 
that steamers of a first class character 
had been bought and fitted up to trans- 
port the revolutionists to the shores of 
Cuba, and that ere long the contest wooild 
be begun under the command of an ex- 
perienced and skilful General, who had 
already acquired a wide and enduring 
fame in the revolutionary struggles of 
Central America, and whose very name 



was a guarantee of success; that th& 
Creoles of Cuba, numbering some one 
hundred and eighty thousand, were anx- 
ious for freedom, had the utmost confi- 
dence in the brave officer referred to, and 
stood ready to place themselves in a body 
under his command at the moment of his 
landing, and to furnish him and all who 
might follow in his train with provisions, 
and everything else essential to their 
comfort and safety ; that they — the Cre- 
oles—were ripe for revolution, and desired 
only arms, sympathy, and a small degree 
of help, to drive the Spanish despot from 
their Isle, and to achieve the darling wish 
of their hearts — the independence of their 
country. 

All this, by persevering and long-con*, 
tinued iteration on the part of The u- 
York Sun, and its Southern coadjutor in 
the cause, The New Orleans Delta, vae 
editors and proprietors of which later 
journal, were also of the Junta, was at 
length so far credited by community, as 
to enable the Junta to carry on its opera- 
tions with a certain degree of openness,, 
and to considerably popularize its move- 
ment. 

The agents of the Spanish govern r- at 
however, though deeply alarmed at e 
activity and extent of the Junta's ope a- 
tions, were not idle. Hired spree T " t 
upon those suspected of connecj , >> 

the enterprise ; their steps were a •&, 
their movements watched, their letters in 
many instances abstracted, opened, and 
the information in them copied,- a dupli- 
cate despatched to the captain general of 
Cuba, and another to the Spanish minis- 
ter at Washington, and then, to obviate 
suspicion, the originals despatched per 
post to their places of destination ; mar 1 !*' 
— the most dangerous — were retained by 
the Spanish agents altogether, and their 
failure to reach those to whom they weie- 
directed warned the Junta, and those is 
its interest, that the most scrupulous cau- 
tion was required to ensure the transmis- 
sion of intelligence and to baffle the " fa- 
miliars" even at their heels. But net- 
withstanding the secret surveillance th vis 
arrayed against it to neutralize its opera- 
tions, the Junta succeeded in obtain ifcgL 
men and munition, as well as eluding the- 
interference of the United States govern- 
ment, which had been brought into action 
at the suggestion of the Spanish minister? 
at Washington. 

At length the hour had cime, in the 
opinion of the Junta, when the initiatory 
step should be taken, when the long-tail- 
ed of promises should be redeemed, whex 
the blow essential to give confidence u< 
the numbers engaged that the Junta wad 
in earnest, should be struck. Accord) 



111 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



|y, word was sent by the Junta to the offi- 
cers engaged in the enterprise, and by 
them transmitted to the wavering, that 
" ihe General" was about to proceed to 
the future sceue of action to open the 
ball ; and then, for the first time, was 
given to the initiated the name, character, 
qualifications and previous achievements 
of the man chosen by the Junta to con- 
duct the affair. That man was General 
Naeciso Lo: j kz, and the following is his 
history ; from which it will be seen that 
if he was to be the commander of the 
expedition, it was of an enterprise origi- 
nating wholly and exclusively with him- 
self. 

LIKE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 

Narciso Lopez was born in Venezuela, 
3 year 1798, or 1799, and was, ac- 
cort '.ngly, about fifty-two years of age. — 
His father was a wealthy lauded proprie- 
tor, owning large estates on the llanos or 
plains, swarming with cattle, horses, &c. 
His mother, who is still living, is said to 
be a woman of rare moral dignity, com- 
bined with mental strength. Her children, 
imbued with that noblest inheritance of 
nature, are stamped from the outset as 
born to command. Narciso was the only 
sou ?hat lived beyond childhood, though 
of cnughters his parents had some four- 
teen or fifteen ; and according to the ha- 
i life of the llanos, he passed almost 
rotn the cradle to the saddle, or further, 
we may perhaps say, to the back of a 
wild horse, without anv saddle — a traili- 
ng well calculated to lay the foundation 
<>f that character and habit of fearless 
lardihood, energy, and resolution, which 
has been illustrated by his subsequent 
military career. 

Though so successful as a soldier, and 

h that access was achieved only by 

he display of extraordinary capacity, as 

veil as courage, it is singular that Lopez 

van d of a military profession 

aid life. He did not enter it from choice, 

'lit .simply as a resource of desperation, 

.under circumstances forced upon him, at 

■ he age of fifteen, by the civil war then 

. nil ihe Spanish South Ameri- 

i an provinces. His lather had been 

l trip] l . iy all lus property, or had 

s ee:i it gendered wholly unproductive, 

through the operation of that cause : and, 

such means as he was able to re- 

s lize, he entered into commercial life at 

(paraceas, assisted by his sop, who, boy 

sis he was, was able to bear the burden 

elf a large share of its responsibilities. At 

the town of Valencia, in the interior, he 

Mail the charge of a branch of his father's 

on establishment at Caraccas, at the 

j sod of the sanguinary, and, for the 

c 1 



time, decisive battle of La Puerta, in 1814, 
in which Bolivar, at the head of the in- 
surgent troops, was defeated by the Span- 
ish army, under General Boves. Bolivar, 
though routed, sent orders to the garrison 
at Valencia, to maintain the place, which 
was done with heroism to the last mo- 
ment, so long as resistance was possible — 
the inhabitants, who knew that massacre 
and plunder Avould immediately ensue on 
the entrance of the victorious army, uni- 
ting in the defence with the few soldiers 
of the garrison. The town being an open 
one, this consisted simply in defending 
the approaches to th« plaza or square, in 
which were hastily collected all the pro- 
perty and effects which it was considered 
most important to protect. The house of 
Lopez's father happened to be situated at 
one corner of the square, and the boy 
took an active part in the defence at that 
point, and before long found himself re- 
cognised by those collected at that point, 
soldiers and citizens, without suspecting 
it himself, as their leader dc facto. His 
father, however, who was in Valencia at 
the time, but a man of different mould 
from the boy who then made his maiden 
trial in arms, took no part in it. The re- 
sistance was prolonged three weeks, but 
no relief came from Bolivar, who, mean- 
while, abandoned, indeed, all that part of 
the country which he had thus compro- 
mised, and made his way along the coast 
towards Barcelona. The inhabitants of 
Valencia felt bitterly resentful at this 
treatment by the patriot leader, who had 
sacrificed them for the escape of the rout- 
ed fragments of his own force, by direct 
ing them to make a resistance, only justi- 
fiable on the idea of his coming to their 
relief; while it could not fail to provoke 
even a redoubled degree of the usual fe- 
rocity with which, in that terrible civil 
struggle, the conquering party was in the 
habit of treating any town falling into 
their possession. Massacre of the men 
was the general rule — a rule often enough 
made to include a proportion of women 
and children. After the surrender of the 
place, Lopez was separated from his fa- 
ther, being turned oil' as a child, while 
his father was herded with tlio men, sup- 
posed, in spite of the capitulation, to be 
reserved for massacre that night. The 
boy himself, indeed, escaped that very 
narrowly. With some other companions, 
he had joined a couple of negroes* slaves 
of his family, aino, at number 

more who had huddled together in one 
spot for safety, that class not being usu- 
ally included in the massacres of such oc- 
casions : but, during the night, fortunately 
issued forth with his two servants, in the 
hope" of being able tc do something for 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCI80 LOPEZ. 



his father, or to hear something of 
him. 

In this hope, indeed, he was mistaken, 
(though his father, as he afterwards learn- 
ed, did succeed in effecting his own es- 
cape,) but the next morning, on returning 
to the place which they had left for that 
purpose, they found the ghastly spectacle 
of eighty-seven bodies with their throats 
cut like sheep. After hiding about for 
some time, feeling himself constantly lia- 
ble to the same fate, and reduced to a 
condition of entire desperation, he deter- 
mined to seek safety in the only situation 
in which it was to be found, by enlistment 
as a soldier in the army ; and selected an 
opportunity of offering himself to a ser- 
geant of more encouraging countenance 
than the others, by whom, not without 
some entreaty, he was accepted as a re- 
cruit — the sergeant Utile suspecting that 
the boy of 15, and small in stature at that, 
whom he at first told to be off and play, 
was hereafter to become one of the most 
distinguished officers in the service. The 
former did not indeed live to see it, for 
this good-natured sergeant fell shortly af- 
terwards, it having been Lopez's lot to 
convey to him, amongst others, the order 
for the service which was his last. This 
was on the occasion of the first battle of 
Maturin, when the Spanish General Mo- 
rales, who was defeated, made good his 
E'etreaf, only by sacrificing a column 
which he ordered to defend a certain po- 
sition, a service which was certain death, 
in a war in which prisoners expected no 
quarter, and were not disappointed. Ex- 
actly three months afterwards, a second 
battle was fought near the same spot, in 
which Morales was victorious, and they 
found bodies of the column in question — 
that is to say, their bleached skeletons — 
to the number of six hundred, laid out on 
the ground in regular array, by the patri- 
ots, in rank and file, as though by a 
moc'kery of discipline in death. 

Such Were the circumstances which 
tiirew Lopez into the military career, and 
which threw him into it on the Spanish 
side of the civil war of that wretched pe- 
riod. He was a mere boy, and it was the 
only chance of life — while, at the same 
time, there was probably then no inhabi- 
tant of Valencia who would have hesita- 
ted to shoot Bolivar, the chief of the 
patriot side, as the bitterest of enemies, 
had they had the opportunity. Spain was 
then, moreover, under the republican con- 
stitution of 1812— so that, in the civil war 
at that period, the cause of liberty did 
net appear to be solely on the patriot side. 
The battle of La Puerta was deemed 
then to have completely crushed the re- 
bellion in that region, though in fact the 



struggle was renewed and protracted, 
with various success, till the final evacu- 
ation of Caraccas by the Spanish army, 
in 1823. 

At the end of the war, Lopez, who had 
thus entered in the ranks, found himself a 
colonel, having attained that rank at the 
age of twenty-three, through the brillian- 
cy and daring of his services. The first 
occasion that attracted attention to him, 
was shortly after his enlistment, during 
an attack upon a certain place, which 
was defended by field-works, there being 
two bastions connected together by a cur- 
tain of about fifty yards in length. The 
Spanish force being divided into two por- 
tions, engaged in attacking the two bas- 
tions, the ammunition of the one portion 
gave out, and signal being made to the 
other to that effect, the commander called 
for volunteers to lead three mules, loaded 
with ammunition, from the one end to the 
other, a service requiring a passage along 
the line of fire of the enemy, stationed 
behind the curtain connecting the two. 
Lopez was the only one who volunteered, 
and he set out with the three mules in a 
siring, according to the custom of the 
country, the head of each fastened by a 
cord to the tail of the one before it. At 
about half the distance across, one of the 
mules fell dead. The mule killed being 
unluckily the middle one, it was necessa- 
ry to untie the cord, and re-fasten the first 
and third together, all under a severe fire, 
which was anxiously watched by both 
parties. He succeeded, however, in reach- 
ing his destination, unwounded, though 
his gun was broken by one ball, his pan- 
taloons cut by another, and his cap pierc- 
ed by a third, with the other mules 
wounded, but not to death ; and the place 
was taken. 

The next day the inquiry was made in 
a general order, for the volunteer who nad 
offered for this decisive service, with a 
view to his receiving an officer's commis- 
sion. The commission, however, he de- 
clined, considering himself not entitled to 
be thus raised over the heads of many 
men, both grown and better qualified, for 
an act which had proceeded more from 
the despair and recklessness of his situa- 
tion, than from any other spirit, and in 
truth, still hoping for escape from service, 
to which he was still strongly averse; 
and the only reward he accepted was that 
of exemption from the drudgeries of a 
soldier's work, and of being mounted in- 
stead of marching on foot, to which he 
had never been accustomed. Still, once 
in the service, the genius of the soldier, 
and the spirit of emulation of military 
honor, prevailed over his own aversion to 
the career, and, at nineteen, he found 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



himself commander of a squadron of 
horse, a select force designed for critical 
eccasions, to decide pending contests, a 
corps into which none but picked men 
were admitted, and with which it was a 
point of honor never to turn the back ; 
and, at the age of twenty-three, a highly 
esteemed colonel of a regiment of cavalry. 
Besides other distinctions, he received 
during this war the rare military honor of 
the cross of San Fernando, of the second 
(the most distinguished) degree, a reward 
not bestowed at pleasure, but which is to 
be obtained only by a public demand by 
the person claiming it, and on the institu- 
tion of a formal process for and against 
his right, everybody being free to inter- 
pose an objection, or to depreciate the 
merit of the act for which it is demanded. 
In the whole army there was but one 
other individual who possessed this cross. 
Lopez, not attaching much importance to 
the act for which he was urged to apply, 
and caring little, moreover, for the honor 
himself, was only induced to demand it 
by the commander-in-chief, General Mo- 
rillo, who taunted him with being afraid 
of a rejection of the demand, and who 
demanded his secretary to draw up the 
application, almost forcing the reluctant 
young officer to sign it. The occasion on 
which he received the cross of San Fer- 
nando, was as follows : — Morillo, at the 
head of a force of seven or eight thousand 
men, was pursuing the patriot army of 
Paez, numbering about 3,000, over the 
tlanos or plains of Venezuela, trying in 
vain to bring the latter to an engagement. 
This the latter had, of course, no difficul- 
ty to avoid, his whole force consisting of 
first-rate cavalry, while the Spanish army 
was mainly infantry. Lopez was, at this 
period, as has been above-mentioned, at 
the head of a picked squadron, reserved 
for decisive moments, with which it was 
a point of honor never to turn their backs. 
He had lost halt of it in a severe engage- 
ment that morning, and with the rest, 
thirty-eight in number, was marching on 
the extreme flank of the army, when he 
received an order from the general to gal- 
lop forward and harrass the rear of Paez's 
retreating army. Morillo had not recog- 
nised, at the distance, the fragment which 
remained of Lopez's squadron ; which he 
would never otherwise have ^ent on suchi 
a service, especially after the morning's 
work. Rash as the order was, it was of 
course obeyed. On the perfectly level 
prairie, which was the scene of the ope- 
ration, what ensued was in view of both 
armies. Paez, provoked at the insolence 
of ihe little squadrou, halted and put him- 
self in person at the head of a splendid 
corps of about 300 men : his guard, the 



well-known flower of his army, in scarle. 
uniforms, and every man superbly mount- 
ed ; and this corps was seen to detach 
itself from the main body and rapidly ap- 
proach the little band, whose destruction 
seemed inevitable before the swoop of 
that force. Lopez asked his men if they 
would stand or turn. The reply was that 
they would do as he should. His answer 
was to fling himself from his horse, and 
command them to do the same, thus burn- 
ing his ships, and then to form his men in 
line, to stand their ground as long as they 
could, with the lances and carbines, which 
were their arms. He thus repulsed the 
charge of Paez and his guard, refusing to 
surrender, maintaining himself till Morillo 
could hasten up all his cavalry to their 
support, and till the able Paez, with 
whom his retreat was of much more im- 
portance than the annihilation of this 
handful of gallant fellows, whom none 
admired more than himself, withdrew his 
guard, and left Lopez, with what remain- 
ed of his dismounted squadron, to receive 
the cordial embraces of his general, and 
the plaudits of the whole army, who had 
witnessed the scene. 

In the negotiations for the withdrawal 
of the Spanish army, he contributed much 
to cause the Spanish general. — who could 
have protracted the contest much longer, 
though with no hope of eventual success 
— to relieve the country from the further 
pressure of the evils of war, by his influ- 
ence, exerted in every manner consistent 
with military honor ; and it is no small 
proof of what must have been the appre- 
ciation of all his character, conduct, and 
motives, entertained even by those against 
whom he had thus served — having been 
thrown, by the circumstances above ex- 
plained, on the Spanish side of the civil 
contest thus terminated — that, on the con- 
clusion of hostilities, he was invited by 
the patriot government to enter its service 
in the same rank held by him in the Span- 
ish army. He declined the offer, not con- 
sidering that that honor which had kept 
him in the service, permitted him to ac- 
cept it, and he retired with the evacuation 
army to Cuba, in the year 1823. 

On one occasion, in South America, 
landing with an expedition, somewhat a 
la Cortez, in a wild and unexplored re- 
gion, occupied by a highly warlike tribe 
of wild Indians, (Indios bravos), who never 
had, nor never have, been tamed, and with 
whom they had a severe engagement on 
landing, the whole party came well nigh 
perishing for want of water. Striking iu- 
to the interior in quest of water, after 
marching in a tropical climate for a whole 
day without finding stream or spring, they 
were at last approached, at about IU1 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



by an Indian warrior, mounted on a mag- 
nificent horse, cream-colored, with black 
rnane and feet. Lopez was in advance, 
with a small column, when the com- 
mander summoned him to consultation. 
The vessels from which they had landed 
the afternoon before had sailed, so that 
they had no return. A number had al- 
ready died of exhaustion and thirst. They 
contrived to make the Indian understand 
their want, and he, in return, conveyed to 
them that he could conduct them to wa- 
ter, which they could reach by daybreak. 
But here arose the perplexity — how far 
he was to be trusted. His purpose might 
be to decoy them away from the relief 
which they might otherwise, perhaps, find 
in the direction they were pursuing, and 
to lead them off astray to a certain and 
horrible fate. In the midst of this anx- 
ious uncertainty, Lopez solved the diffi- 
culty in a mode little likely to occur to 
another, by proposing to mount himself 
behind the Indian, on the powerful and 
fresh horse of the latter, and to go at the 
utmost speed in quest of the water, to 
verify what was understood from the signs 
of the Indian ; telling the commander 
that if he returned all would of course be 
well, while if he did not return, it would 
prove that he was killed — that the Indian 
was playing false ; and that, therefore, they 
should in that case infer that, by pushing 
on in the direction they were going, they 
would probably find relief. The offer was 
accepted, and his companions remained 
on the spot to await the result, all the 
bands of discipline being meanwhile 
wholly relaxed. As it resulted, the In- 
dian conducted him truly, though of 
course Lopez had to plunge into the 
depths of the forest and of the night, 
mounted behind a guide who might lead 
hiim only into the midst of enemies. He 
reached the water, returned ; and by con- 
ducting them to it, saved the lives of the 
whole expedition. It proved that the In- 

■ dian was of a tribe hostile to those against 
whose territory the expedition was pro- 
ceeding. Some of his wives had beenj 
carried off on a foray, and he was in pur- 
suit of them when he came upon the! 
strangers, whom he supposed, of course, 

■• the enemies of his enemies, and therefore 

x his friends. The Indian Orpheus was re- 
warded not only by the recovery of his 
two or three lost Eurydices, but by liberal 

i presents, and he afterwards proved a ser- 

/ viceable guide. 

' From 1S23 he was a Cuban, having 
married and established himself in the 
island. The re-establishment of absolu- 
tism in Spain, by the aid of the French 
intervention, overthrowing, for the second 
time, the constitution of 1812, wholly 



prevented his resumption of service ; 
though retaining his nominal rank. The 
system then adopted was, to require a 
" purification " from all the officers of the 
army, especially those suspected of too 
much liberalism, a process consisting in 
the adjuration of such sentiments, and in 
an oath of devotion and support of the 
new order of things. Always not only 
liberal, but democratic, in heart as well as 
in principles, he would never consent to 
compromise with his conscience in that 
respect ; and he accordingly remained in 
retirement until, on the death of the old 
King, Ferdinand VII., the long-smothered 
liberal party broke out from under the 
despotic incubus which had pressed it 
down, and assumed the ascendant in the 
government of the country. Maria Chris- 
tina, the brilliant, bold, but unprincipled 
widow of the old King, after having 
caused the latter by his will to devise the 
crown to her infant daughter Isabel, 3 (ib 
disregard of the Salic law, which had 
heretofore regulated the succession of the 
throne of Spain, and therefore to the ex- 
clusion of the rights of Don Carlos, the 
King's brother, and next male heir, threw 
herself on the liberal party for support, 
and even resuscitated from its grave the 
constitution of 1812. The absolutist or 
royalist party soon prepared to rise for the 
maintenance of the right of Don Carlos, 
whose character and views made him 
moreover their natural head. Christina, 
in anticipation of the severe civil strug- 
gle, which all knew to be about to ensue, 
adopted the vigorous measure of disarm- 
ing at a blow the whole royalist party 
throughout the kingdom, so far as it was 
practicable ; a service to which the people 
were summoned, and came forward eager- 
ly enough to perform, with the aid of the 
troops that could be counted upon by the 
government. This movement, beginning 
at Madrid, was at each important point 
the work of a day, and by its suddenness 
so successful, that throughout the king- 
dom, six hundred thousand stands of arms 
were wrested from the hands in whick 
they would otherwise have soon been em- 
ployed for the re-establishment of Don 
Carlos, the priests, and absolutism. 

It was in the midst of theHumult of this 
memorable day at Madrid,/ that Colonel 
Lopez, (who happened to be at the capi- 
tal with his wife, to reclaim, a large sum 
of money arbitrarily seized from the family 
of the latter by the government in Cuba,) 
reappeared on the scene, signally distin- 
guishing himself by the activity and bold- 
ness which he exhibited in heading bodies 
of the people, in this operation of disarm- 
ing the royalists. Always a thorough re- 
publican in heart and conviction, he was 



J 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



one of the most enthusiastic to welcome 
the revival of the old constitution, and 
the constitutionalist party, and his joy 
took the natural form of zealous daring, 
in the performance of this practical ser- 
vice to the cause of his principles — a ser- 
vice which was not at all one-sided, a 
considerable part of the national guard 
and some of the troops being royalist, 
and several attempts being made by the 
latter party to rally, and make a stand 
against the tide of popular enthusiasm 
that rose and raged round them, and 
finally overbore all resistance. More than 
once in the course of the day, Lopez was 
seen driving before him, singly, with his 
sword, considerable bodies oi the royal- 
ists, armed with their guns, to the prin- 
cipal guard-house, to deliver up their arms, 
treating them with little ceremony, and 
making them acquainted with the flat of 
his sword, and indeed cowing them into 
obedience to his command, as though he! 
had been their own officer. 

The consequence of tins day was, that 
he was speedily despatched to join the 
army, as first aid-de-camp to the com- 
mander-in-chief, Gen. Valdez; and after! 
taking a most active part in war, being 
usually selected for the most daring mili- 
tary work, he found himself, at its close, 
a general, and covered with military de- 
corations, among which were fTie highly 
distinguished ones of the grand crosses of 
St. Hermencrildo and Isabella Catolica. 

General Valdez, the Captain-General of 
Cuba, to which post he was appointed, to 
a great extent through the influence of 
Lopez, who had urged it strongly as a 
means of afl'ording to himself an oppor- 
tunity of returning to Cuba, solicited per- 
mission that Lopez should accompany 
him, but without success ; and it was not 
till several months afterwards, that he 
finally effected his object, partly through 
his threat of resigning his commission, 
and partly from the Regent's personal at- 
tachment, as we shall presently explain. 

Even Carlist historians speak with high 
praise of their own most formidable ene- 
my, Lopez ; relating, among other acts, 
the manner in which he saved the army, 
and the bono; of General Carondelet, who 
was almost beaten, by a surprise, allowed 
Lopez, though only a colonel, to rally the 
dying troops, assume the entire command, 
virtually Bupercede the general, and to a 
great extent retrieve the disaster of the 
day. 

In Navarre, he saveduhe General Val- 
dez, and a division of his army, under the 
following circumstances: — Valdez had al- 
lowed himself to be surprised with only 
a small part of his army, in a village 
;o, where he had established 



his head-quarters; the rest of the army 
being scattered in various directions, on 
different services. Suddenly, through one 
of those rapid movements of concentra- 
tion which marked the system of warfare 
of Zumalacarlegai, the celebrated Carlist 
commander-in-chief, he found himself sur- 
rounded in every direction with greatly 
superior forces. Durango was situated in 
a valley, encompassed with hills of mod- 
erate elevation, of which the enemy sud- 
denly took possession. Escape seemed 
impossible ; a bird alone, as it seemed, 
could carry the intelligence to the nearest 
Christino division, situated at Ermoa, ten 
or twelve miles distant, so as to summon 
it to the rescue. Colonel Lopez, how- 
ever, volunteered to do it, claiming it as 
his duty and right, as first aide-de-camp, 
and pledging himself to bring up the di- 
vision at Ermoa. The commander-in- 
chief, though regarding the attempt as 
desperate, yet yielding to his demand, told 
him he might then take what force he re- 
quired for the purpose. " I could not 
do it with the half of the division," was 
the answer : " but let me have your pie- 
bald horse, which you bought on my ad- 
vice." It was brought, and Lopez mount- 
ed it, taking with him only his orderly, 
(a fellow on whom he could trust to fol- 
low him over and through anything,) the 
latter being mounted on Lopez's own fa- 
vorite charger. Directing him to keep 
close to him and to regulate his pace by 
his own : and since it was not likely that 
both would escape, instructing him as to 
the order to be carried to Ermoa, he set 
out at full speed from Durango, along a 
road which passed between two eminences, 
both occupied by the enemy. Slackening 
then his speed, as he got well clear of the 
former place, and approached the elemy, 
but riding with entire confidence, he and 
his companion preseri*»d the appearance 
of deserters; and two squadrons, which 
had at first detached themselves from the 
enemy on both sides to intercept them, 
slackened the pane at which they moved 
down the road for that purpose. He then, 
with a nice calculation of ihc distance at 
which he might venture it, suddenly clap- 
ped spurs to his horse, and rushed through 
the shower of balls which immediately 
poured down from both sides, and, in the 
pursuit, cleared the gauntlet before the; 
could cut him off, and the thing was done. 
In the words of Vald< z'9 certificatioi . 
the astonishment of the enemy, and of the 
army, both of whom were watching the 
operation, he traversed the line," and the 
army was saved. 

Between himself and Valdez, (after- 
wards Captain General of Cuba,) a devot- 
ed friendship arose, which never sustain- 



10 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



ed any diminution. Valdez was always 
regarded by Lopez as the most virtuous 
man breathing. 

In all the acts of heroic daring, on the 
part of Lopez, which are familiarly cur- 
rent among the Spanish soldiers, and 
which, together with his humanity, kind- 
ness and freedom from the arrogant pride 
habitual to the Spanish officers, made him 
so popular with them, it is to be remarked 
that the boldness is never recklessness ; 
but is always elicited by a worthy occa- 
sion, and combined with that quick and 
acute calculation of the possibility, which 
is the essence of military genius. 

We are unwilling lo omit another inci- 
dent in the military life of General Lopez, 
in which your readers will not fail to re- 
cognise the ' high Roman fashion.' To- 
gether with a large number of others, he 
was at one time a prisoner in the hands 
of the Carlists, at a place named Conta- 
vieja, a fortified place in the depths of the 
mountains of Aragon, which was suppos- 
ed a safe place of custody. There were 
about seven hundred prisoners collected 
there. Lopez was the highest in rank 
among the prisoners, and was confined in 
a small room apart from the rest, with 
four other superior officers. The gover- 
nor of the place was a brutal and bloody 
wretch, who lost no opportunity of out- 
raging his prisoners. He was greatly en- 
raged when a Christino army, under Gen. 
San Miguel, now one of the most respect- 
able officers in Spain, began to approach 
the place to besiege it, overcoming by ex- 
treme exertions, the difficulties which had 
been supposed to make it inaccessible. 
The Governor thereupon declared that the 
first gun fired against the place should be 
the signal for death of all the prisoners 
in it, from Lopez down, (an act perfectly 
in accordance with the system of war of 
Cabrera, who commanded for Don Carlos 
in that quarter ;) and offered Lopez per- 
mission to write to San Miguel to that 
effect — in the beRef of course, that he 
would dissuade him from the enterprise. 
Lopez accordingly wrote, indeed simply 
mentioning the "Fact which he had been 
requested by the governor to communi- 
cate; but adding, that Gen. San Miguel 
, would, of course, carry out his own 
plans, without regard to this circum- 
stance, which was, morever, a proof that 
the governor was afraid he would not be 
able to maintain the place against ihe ap- 
prehended siege. San Miguel, at length, 
made his appearance before Contavieja, 
and began to throw up his siege works. 
The governor then went to the room in 
which Lopez was confined, and told him 
that he deeply deplored the necessity un- 
der which he was now placed, of ordering 



the execution of the prisoners, but offered 
them another chance, by saying that Gen. 
Lopez might go out to San Miguel's camp, 
to explain, in person, the state of things, 
so as to induce the latter to withdraw — 
giving his word of honor that he would 
return immediately. Lopez accepted the 
offer ; and, presenting himself to San Mi- 
guel and his officers, who welcomed him 
as a favorite friend, sat down to a cheer- 
ful breakfast, at which he explained the 
errand on which he had been sent. He 
executed it, however, in his own way, by 
advising San Miguel of the best mode of 
attacking the town by storm, giving him. 
the benefit of the observations he had been 
able to make of its defences inside ; and it 
was agreed that the attack should be 
made the next day. 

The prisoners had contrived to obtain 
the promise of some forty muskets from 
some of the Navarrese soldiers in the 
place, with which they would make at 
least some resistance to the amiable pur- 
pose of the Governor — a resistance which 
might thus afford a useful diversion during 
the attack. This being all discussed, to- 
gether with the breakfast, Lopez rose to 
depart, which he was not suffered to do- 
till he had overpowered the chorus of op- 
position he encountered, by the declaration 
of his inflexible resolution. The Gover- 
nor confessed himself very much aston- 
ished to see him back. The town was 
vigorously attacked the next day, and 
taken by assault, the prisoners escaping 
the impending fate (which, by the way, a 
certain cura, or priest, who was one of the 
principal Carlist officers in the garrison, 
was the most eager to inflict,) by the ra- 
pidity of the operation, and the terror 
with which the garrison was impressed. 

"They had no time, and they were 
afraid of reprisals, that was all," was 
General Lopez's modest commentary, on 
a recent occasion, when the inquiries of 
some friends elicited the particulars of 
this story, in which we see a ray of the 
classic giory of Regulus, though he him- 
self was the only one who saw nothing in 
it remarkable. 

In his political sentiments, General Lo- 
pez never wavered from his fidelity to the 
democratic party, known in Spain as the 
liberal exalta&o party. As a known and 
reliable member of that party, he was ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief of the Na- 
tional Guard of the kingdom, a post crea- 
ted for him at a critical period. He, at 
different periods, filled the post of com- 
mander-in-chief of various provinces. 
Though excessively caressed by the queen 
mother Christina, he early learned to de- 
spise and distrust her and her false, selfish?, 
and intriguing politics. 



i 



LIFE O: GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



11 



On the occasion of the popular insur-| constitution which gave to those deputies 
rection at Madrid, which resulted in the the same rights with those whose votes 
expulsion of Christina from the Regency, repulsed ihem — had already awakened a 
Gen. Lopez was earnestly solicited by the deep feeling tf resentment in his breast, 
people to assume the command of the! as in that of all his Cuban compatriots, 
capital, as Governor of Madrid, which,] Though a soldier from childhood., he had 
when he found it incumbent on him as a never had other than an American heart, 
duty of humanity at a difficult and criti- and he soon learned to regard with self- 
cal moment, he consented to do. The | reproach his own glory acquired in the 
city being threatened by the army, he ; Spanish service, and to despise the glitter 
made the most energetic preparations for of his own uniform as a mere livery, m 
its defence ; but happily the withdrawal 'more honorable in his eyes than that 
of the obnoxious queen mother to Paris! which bedizened a rich marrs negr< 
averted the necessity of the struggle, for lealtsero in his own country, 
which he had braced the nerves of ihe! Such thoughts in the breast of a man, 
people, by the firmness of his resolution; so honest in conviction, so resolute in will, 
and the vigor of his measures. Espartero ' so fearless in execution, was no barren 
on whom the government then devolved, sentiment ; and he deliberately determin- 
and who was soon after appointed Regent, !ed to devote the rest of his life to the lib- 
by the Cortes, was anxious to induce Lo-|eration of his country, and the recovery 
pez to retain the post of Governor of Ma- 'of his own dignity — measuring the latter 
drid ; but the latter would not remain be- by a far^higher standard than the vulgat 
yond the period of emergency for which one of rank, military distinction, power, 
he had been called upon by the people or court favor. Resigning" his seat as a 
themselves, in a situation in which it! Senator, he insisted with Espartero on be- 
might become his duty to act against thejing allowed to return to Havana — a per- 
people for the repression of tumults, and (mission which he did not obtain without 
three times pressed upon the R.egent his! extraordinary difficulty, nor until after a 
resignation; which was only accepted, long resistance on the part of the Regent, 
when he positively refused to take a nega-iit being contrary to the jealous policy of 
tive answer, and he relieved Espartero Spain, in the government of her rich eol- 
from the difficulty of filling his place, by.ony, the Queen of the Antilles, to allow 
himself recommending a competent sue- 'an American born officer of rank, of im- 
cessor. portance, to go there. An intimate friend- 

Anterior to this period, he had been ap-l ship with Espartero, ihe noble head of 
pointed a Senator of the kingdom by the the liberal or progressist party in Spain, 
liberal city of Seville. Authorized by the 'alone made practicable the importunity 
constitution to nominate three persons for [with which Gen. Lopez insisted on hi? 
the Senate, from whom the crown had to! demand, which he even enforced by ma- 
select one, Seville took effectual means to king it the alternative to a resignation of 
make good its desire to be represented by his commission ; and it cannot be denied 
Lopez, by naming as his colleagues in the that his own determined purpose in going, 
nomination, two candidates whom it was and the consequences which have resulted 
impossible for the court to adopt, the one 'from it, prove clearly enough the policy 
being the Infante Don Francisco de Paula, of that rule, on the part <sf the Spanish 
th# uncle of thevoung Queen, and brother government, to which he thus succeeded 



of Don Carlos, and the other being a *ts 
anguished Carlist bishop. 

His office of senator afforded General 
Lopez an opportunity jf studying the pol- 
itics of Spain, the spirit and action of its 
government, especially in reference to its 
American colonies, (Cuba, his country by 
adoption and marriage, being the princi- 
pal one,) which, amidst the clash and 
splendor of arms, he had never before pos- 
sessed ; and he willingly, for a while, for- 
got the latter, glorious as they had been 
to him, to avail himself of the advanta- 
geous facilities of his position for the for- 
mer. Disgust and indignation were the 
hist fruits ; resolution to be the liberator 
of Cuba the next. The repulse of the 
Cuban deputies from their seats in the 
Cortes — a Cortes existing by virtue of a 



in causing himself to be made the fotal 
exception. 

It may be added that Lopez's secret 
wishes and views early adopted, have 
made him an object of at least so much 
suspicion, in reference to Cuba, that sev- 
eral years before, by a proceeding emana- 
ting from Havana, and from Tacon, then 
Captain General, he had been subjected 
to a formal trial on a charge of 
for the independence of that colony, and 
of having, at a public dinner, pi 
a toast a sentiment to tin' i F ct. lit 
succeeded, however, in baffling his ene- 
mies, and was acquitted. 

It was, we believe, in 1839 that he re- 
turned to Cuba. During the period of the 
Captain Generalship of Val« 
friendship, and gratitude combined to re- 



12 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



quire him to postpone any steps towards 
the accomplishment of that great purpose 
which never slept within his breast. The 
downfall of Espartero, and the restoration 
of Maria Christina to power, supported 
by Narvaez and the army, by caushYrj the 
recall of the virtuous Valdez (who was 
succeeded by O'Donnell, the predecessor 
of Roneali,) released him from the per- 
sonal obligations by which at first he had 
felt himself fettered ; and his friends in 
Havana were surprised at the evident 
content and cheerfulness with which he 
received a change of parties, necessarily 
depriving him of the posts which he held 
in the military government of the Island. 
Under Valdez he was Governor of Trini- 
dad and Commander-in-Chief of the Cen- 
tral Department, as well as President of 
the Military Commission. He gladly laid 
down these pests on the arrival of the pe- 
riod of opportunity and freedom, for which 
he had impatiently waited ; and creating 
a pretext for returning to the Central De- 
partment, in retirement, (retaining, of 
course, his position and rank as general, 
though not on duty,} by undertaking the 
working of an abandoned copper mine, 
he devoted himself mainly to his object 
of organizing preparations for his intended 
rising of the people against their oppres- 
sors — an object which, it is scarcely need- 
ed to say, required extreme caution and 
tact, as well as boldness, though he be- 
lieved that the general sentiment of the 
people was already strongly disposed to 
a movement for independence. With this 
view he exerted himself in many ways to 
establish a personal popularity and per- 
sonal relations, as extensively as possible, 
with the country people of all the sur- 
rounding region, the guajiros, every one 
of whom is more accustomed to the saddle 
than to any other seat, so that they may 
be called a population of cavalry, whom 
a very little training, under the inspiration 
of such a leader, would make a mounted 
force inferior to none in the world. He 
employed every mode in his power to 
make himself personally familiar with 
them, to win their confidence, and to at- 
tach them by services and favors — an 
operation in which always lavish and 
careless of money, he spent with an unre- 
served hand. ~ 

Mingling thus familiarly among the 
guajiros, in their own costume, and, as 
one of themselves, he thus prepared them 
to be in readiness for the approaching 
day. Aided .by the respect due to his rank, 
the brilliancy of his military reputation 
as the well known bravest and boldest 
officer of Cuba, his generosity and charac- 
ter for humanity and good nature, he thus 
established an influence such as made him 



always confident that the whole region 
would rise at his voice, whenever he 
should summon the people to rally round 
the flag of liberty and independence. 

Having determined, early in 1848, that 
the proper time had arrived, he was only 
induced by some friends to postpone his 
intended rising for a short time, in order 
to await the result of some communica- 
tions which had proceeded from a highly 
distinguished American officer in Mexico, 
who knew the state of public feeling in 
the island. This delay led, through an 
accidental cause, to the discovery of his 
plan by the government, and the sudden 
arrest of his friends, and the necessity of 
his own precipitate embarkation for this 
country, from whose friendly shores he 
hoped soon to be able to return. His 
plan for Cuba has always been independ- 
ence and annexation to the American Un- 
ion. After his escape he was condemned 
to death. 

' Among his papers seized by the govern- 
ment, was a letter to the Queen, resigning 
his commission, which was to have been 
sent to the Captain General a day or two 
before the rising. This has been descri- 
bed, by one who has seen it, as a very 
noble and beautiful production, finely re- 
conciling the duty of military honor with 
that of patriotism. 

Against the persons who had been ar- 
rested, (some of them, perhaps, with rea- 
son, and some without,) no evidence ex- 
isted, and the greater part were released 
— some being sent out of the country. 

Lopez himself escaped in a vessel call- 
i ed the Neptune, and soon after landed at 
! Bristol, R. I. 

While at Bristol, Lopez completed the 
! contemplated details of his plan for the 
! emancipation of Cuba, amusing his leisure 
! moments by indulging in his favorite pas- 
I times of fowling and fishing, till late in 
autmarHi, when he bade adieu to Rhode 
j Island, went to New York, introduced 
himself to -the editor of the Herald, stated 
the object of his visit, which was to agi- 
tate the question of Cuban independence, 
requested and obtained the assistance of 
the editor of that widely circulated paper, 
with what result the reader is already 
aware. 

This, then, was the man into whose 
hands were to be entrusted, first, the con- 
fidence, and secondly, the lives of those en- 
gaged m the enterprise. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE BATTLE OF CARETNAS. 

The hour at length had come. Private 
letters from Cuba notified the junta that 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARC1SO LOPE/:. 



13 



the Creoles were ready for the reception 
of their American friends, and eager for 
the rising. The junta, and all engaged 
in the enterprise, were in high spirits ; 
the utmost confidence was reposed by the 
heads of the expedition in the valor of the 
Americans; nothing was wanted but a field 
in which to display their prowess, and 
then " wo to the Spaniard." 

On the 15th of May, 1850, three divi- 
sions, of two hundred men each, that had 
concentered off the Island of Macreres, 
near Yucatan, embarked on board a 
steamer in the pay of the Junta, though 
ostensibly held by others, and started di- 
rect for Cuba. Early on the morning of 
the 19th, the steamer glided quietly into 
the port of Cardinas, and succeeded in 
landing her men, but not without discov- 
ery. As Lopez drew up his divisions 
upon the shore, the signal of alarm was 
given, the Spanish troops were hurriedly 
drawn out, and arrayed in order of battle, 
the people were summoned to the rescue, 
the order given on both sides to fire, and 
as the smoke of the first discharge rolled 
away, a hundred Spaniards and some half 
dozen of the invaders lay weltering in 
blood. Without giving his enemy time 
to recover from the shock, Lopez ordered 
a second division to advance, which was 
done almost simultaneously with the pas- 
sage of the word from his lips; and the 
next instant scores of Spaniards went 
down, and the air rang with their agoni- 
zing cries* The second division now 
opened vmi fell back, and the third ad- 
vanced, and in obedience to the order of 
the General, opened another volley upon 
the troops, who, unable longer to endure 
the terrible fire of the invaders, hurriedly 
discharged and then threw by their pieces, 
broke, and scattering in all directions, fled. 
After a short pursuit, Lopez recalled his 
men, called upon the inhabitants to join 
him, marched triumphantly into the pub- 
lic square, threw up the Free Flag of Cu- 
ba, pronounced the Spanish authority at 
an end, and formally took possession of 
the town. 

It was the intention of Lopez, once he 
had taken Cardinas, to leave it in the 
hands of the Creoles, and then proceed, 
by rail-road or otherwise, to Matanzas. 
The people, however, showed neither en- 
thusiasm at his success, nor willingness 
to join his ranks. A few — a very few — 
only displayed a desire to take up arms, 
rally under his banner, and battle for the. 
independence of their country. Lopez s 
scarcely knew what to think of this. It 
was impossible to reconcile such conduct 
with the promises and statements i 
Cubans. His brow became painfully J 
thoughtful. His men, too, grew ruutin-j 



ous. It was plain to them that the Cre- 
oles of Cardinas, at least, felt no disposi- 
tion to revolt ; that their sympathies, or 
what was more probable their fears, were 
with the government, and the chances of 
their joining in the rising were visibly 
unpromising. To crown^ the General's 
anguish, intelligence was received to the 
effect that troops were on their way in 
large numbers to the city, both by sea 
and land, to crush at once the invaders, 
their sympathizers, and all hopes pf a re- 
volution at a blow. This, in the estima- 
tion of the General- and his men, was of 
no consequence, if the people showed any 
inclination to join them ; they did not, 
and Lopez, perceiving that without such 
encouragement, it would be useless for 
him to attempt to hold the city, sorrow- 
fully relinquished his design upon Ma- 
tanzas, re-embarked, and theCreole moved 
off with the invaders, in the direction of 
Key West, where she arrived in safety, 
closely followed however by the Spanish 
war steamer Pizarro, from which she very 
narrowly escaped. 

Shortly after reaching Key West, the 
Creole was seized by the United States 
authorities, and Lopez proceeded to Sa- 
vannah, where he was arrested on the 
27th of May for his connexion with the 
expedition. No delay being granted by 
the District Judge to procure evidence 
against him, he was acquitted and dis- 
charged amid the cheers of an immense 
concourse which had assembled to leam 
the result of the trial. 

From Savannah, Lopez proceeded to 
New Orleans, the head quarters of the 
Junta. Here, with others, he was again 
arrested, by order of the government, and 
a true bill found against him by the Grand 
Jury of the United States Court, for vio- 
lating the act of 1818. The government 
failed however in making out its case 
against one or two of his colleagues, and 
finally relinquished the prosecution. 

Though somewhat disturbed at the re- 
sult of his operations at Cardinas, Lopez 
was in no wise disheartened. Letters 
subsequently received from various sec- 
tions of Cuba strengthened him in tht 
conviction that the Creoles of that Island 
were not all composed of the same igno- 
ble stuff which marked the $e ifCardiou. 
His correspondence, as well as that of the 
Junta generally, with the resident Cuban 
Creoles, was of an extensive character ; 
and his letters encouraged him to proceed, 
promising him at the same time the most 
liberal co-operation, and the betrtMM and 
readiest aasietanse, both in money and 
men. 

And now, one word in respect to his 
motives. 



•H 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



Lopez had nothing to gain, and every- 
thing to lose by his connection with, this 
enterprise. An ardent lover of liberty, 
hating oppression, naturally chivalrous 
and of enlarged and comprehensive views, 
his clear intellect saw the evils of despo- 
tism, his noble heart was indignant at the 
sufferings of the oppressed Cubans, his 
generous soul inspired him with the de- 
termination to free them from the Spanish 
yoke, and to this idea he devoted his ge- 
nius, his life, his fortune. The first, those 
friendly with him never dreamt of call- 
ing in question ; the second he regarded 
of but little value except so far as it ena- 
bled him to serve what he supposed to be 
the interest of humanity ; the third, he 
spent free as water in the cause in which 
he had engaged. He was old, and glory 
had but little effect upon him ; as to the 
pecuniary reward, he was already rich, 
and his nature was by no means sordid. 
If he failed in his design of emancipating 
Cuba from the despotism which wrapped 
her in its black embrace, distorting her 
beauty, stifling her energies, a"nd robbing 
her with the rapacity of a tiger, of her 
riches, strength, and blood, his life was 
the penalty. If he succeeded, the hope, 
the dream of his life would be realized, 
and the joy attendiug that was in itself 
the best and the only recompense he could 
expect. I will not say that the ambition 
of being pronounced the Saviour of Cuba, 
and of obtaining an honorable rank among 
the true heroes of the world, the Soldiers 
<jf Humanity, had no place in his thoughts. 
Let those who would pronounce judgment 
against him, because fa ilure attended his 
latest effort to disenthral the Cubans of 
the gyves which held them in bondage, 
charge him with a baser motive, and fas- 
ten it upon him. 1 am not of their num- 
ber. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE KISING AT PRINCIPE. 

As I have said, Lopez and the Junta 
generally were in continual correspond- 
ence with resident Creoles of Cuba, after 
the affair of Cardinas, and that they pro- 
mised liberally both men and money. 
• Though Lopez and his coadjutors had the 
utmost confidence in these promises, as 
well as in the earnestness of their corres- 
pondents, it was not so with " the men " 
engaged in the enterprise. They said : 
" The people charge us with endeavoring 
to create a revolution for the sake of pil- 
lage ; they state that the Cubans do not 
desire freedom, if they did they would 



strike for themselves. We will not waste 
any more time, nor take another step un- 
til we see something on the part of the 
Creoles besides promises. We took the 
first step at Cardinas, and gave them an 
opportunity to show their hands, which 
they did not. They must take the next, 
and then we will go to their assistance ; 
otherwise, we shall not budge an inch." 

This was good reasoning, and Lopez, 
as well as the Junta, had to acknowledge 
the force of it ; and they immediately 
despatched intelligence to that effect to 
the revolutionists of Cuba. Replies came 
back that the Creoles would, take the de- 
sired step, and at once. This was all that 
was demanded, and the hopes of the 
Junta again rose high. It was announc- 
ed by the Creoles that a demonstration 
would be made at Puerto Principe, some- 
time between the 1st and 4th of July, 
when a Declaration of Independence 
would be read, and the People called 
upon to rise. July was close at hand, too 
close to despatch assistance with the hope 
that it would reach the patriots in time, 
and the Junta could therefore do but little 
else than wait impatiently for tidings 
ifrom Principe. At length it came. 

True to their promise, the Cuban revo- 
lutionists took the next step. 

The town of Puerto Principe, which is 
the capital of the Central Department of 
Cuba, is situated in the interior, a little to 
the east of the centre of the island, and 
450 miles from Havana. It is 36 miles 
from Neuvitas, which is its seaport, and 
through which all its foreign trade passes. 
The town is situated between two rivu- 
lets, which unite and form the San Pedro 
river. The country in the neighborhood 
formerly produced immense quantities of 
cattle, and supplied the markets of Ha- 
vana. The soil is exceedingly rich and 
productive, but much of it lies waste and 
uncultivated. The mountain range of 
Cuba flanks the city on either hand. The 
eastern chain, running to the point of the 
island at Cape Maysi, is savage and bro- 
ken, som& of the peaks rising to the 
height of 8,000 feet. These mountain 
valleys and defiles would afford ample 
shelter to the revolutionists, who might 
also draw their supplies from the rich 
agricultural region adjoining. 

The Creoles of this region are excellent 
horsemen, strong, athletic, and hardy 
men, always on horseback, and accus- 
tomed to thread the dense and intricate 
forests of the Island, in which the Span- 
ish soldiery would be found completely 
useless, however brave. 

The rising began on the 3d of July, and 
continued, though somewhat bunglingly 
managed, till the 13th, when it ceased. 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



15 



The following intelligence of the details 
was transmitted to the Junta. 

On the morning of the 3d of July, Jo- 
aquin de Aguero y Sanchez, with a small 
body of Creoles, made Ins appearance in 
the town of Principe, uttering loud cries 
of "Liberty — death to the Spaniard!" 
and, with his companions, calling on the 
people to join him and strike for freedom. 
Although he had previously received the 
promises of some three or four hundred 
that they would respond to the call the 
instant a demonstration was made, only 
fifteen, all told, redeemed their pledge. 
Though somewhat disturbed at this re- 
sult, the Creole chief followed by his 
small troop, hurried through the town, 
uttering deflance to the authorities, and as 
before, calling on the people to join him. 
The latter displayed no decision, and the 
Spanish troops, outnumbering the insur- 
gents twenty to one, perceiving the in- 
habitant:? were too timid to join them, 
thus heading off" all idea of danger, sal- 
lied forth to attack them. The odds were 
too fearful for the contest to last any length 
of time, and, as might have been expect- 
ed, the patriots were routed, and Sanchez 
taken prisoner. 

Notwitiistanding this result, the Creoles 
made another stand on the following day. 
They gathered in large numbers, on a 
plain, at the foot of the hills of Najassa, 
a few leagues from the city. Here, it 
was determined, in case of interruption 
by the Spanish troops, to strike boldly and 



A situation so violent a9 this, Cuba has been 
for many years enduring ; and far from any 
promise of remedy appearing, every day adds 
new proof that the policy of the mother-coun- 
try, and the ferocity of her rulers, will grant 
neither truce nor rest till she is reduced to the 
condition of an immense prison, where every 
Cuban will be watched by a guard, and will 
have to pay that guard for watching him. In 
vain have this people exhibited a mildness, a 
prudence, and even a submission and loyalty, 
which have been proverbial. 

When the iniquity of the government has 
not been able to find any ostensible grounds 
for persecution, it has had recourse to cowardly 
arts and snares to tempt its victims into some 
offence: Thus were various individuals of 
Matanzas entrapped into an ambuscade of boI- 
diery, by the pretext of selling them some 
arms, under circumstances which made them 
believe those arms were necessary for self-de- 
fence, against threatened attacks from the Pe- 
ninsulars. Thus have sergeants, and even offi- 
cers, been seen to mingle among the country 
people, and pass themselves off as enemies of 
the government, for the purpose of betraying 
them into avowals of their sentiments, to the 
ruin of many persons so informed against, as 
well a9 to the disgrace of military honor on the 
part of those who have lent themselves to so 
villanous a service. 

If the sons of Cuba, moved by the dread of 
greater evib, have ever determined to employ 
legitimate means of imposing some law, or 
some restraint, upon the unbridled excesses of 
their rulers, these latter have always found the 
way to distort such acts into attempts at re- 
bellion. 

For having dared to give utterance to prin- 



i*ig Declaration of Independence read 



Inhabitants of the Island of Cuba. 

Manifesto and Proclamation of their Inde- 
pendence by the Liberating Society of Piierto 
Principe. 

Human Reason revolts against the idea that 
the social and political condition of a people 
can be indefinitely prolonged, in which man, 
stripped of all rights and guarantees, with no 
security of person or property, no enjovment 
in the present, no hope in the future, lives only 
by the will, and under the conditions imposed 
by the pleasure of hi» tyrants ; where a vile 
calumny, a prisoner's denunciation, a despot's 
suspicion, a word caught up by surprise in the 
sanctuary of home, or from the violated priva- 
cy of a letter, furnishes im pie grounds for tear- 
ing a man from his hearth, and casting him 
forth to die of destitution or despair in a for- 
eign soil, if he escapes being subjected to the 
insulting forms of a barbarous and arbitrary 
tribunal, where his persecutors are themselves 
the judges who condemn him, and where, in- 
stead of their proving his offence, he is requir- 
ed to prove his innocence. 



manfully for the cause. The flag of the L- les and £ ink)n ^ to ( her n J ioDg 
rled, and the follow- ^tute the foundation of their moral pro- 
gress and glory, the Cubans most distinguished 
for their virtues and talents have found them- 
selves wanderers and exiles. For the offence 
of having exhibited their opposition to the un- 
lawful and perilous slavetrade, from which the 
avarice of General O'Donnell promised itself 
so rich a harvest of lucre, the latter satiated 
his resentment with the monstrous vengeance 
of involving them in a charge of conspiracy 
with the free colored people and the slaves of 
the estates ; endeavoring, as the last outrage 
that an immoral government could offer t» 
law, to reason, or to nature, to prove the ob- 
ject of that conspiracy, in which they implicat- 
ed whites of the most eminent virtue, know- 
ledge, and patriotism, to have been no ether 
than the " destruction of their own race." 

All the laws of society and nature trampled 
under foot — all races and conditions confounded 
together — the island of Cuba then presented 
co the civilized world a spectacle worthy of the 
n joicings of hell. The wretched slaves saw 
their flesh torn from them under the lash, and 
I v -pattered with blood the faces of their exe- 
cutioners, who did not cease exacting from their 
tortures denunciations against accomplices. 
Others were shot in platoons, without form of 
trial, and without even coming to understand 
the pretext under which they were massacred . 



16 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



The free colored people, after having been first 
lacerated by the lash, were then hurried to the 
scaffold, and those only escaped •with life who 
had gold enough to appease the fury of their 
executioners. And nevertheless, •when the 
government, or its followers, has come to fear 
some rising of the Cubans, their first threat has 
been that of arming the colored people against 
them for their extermination. We abstain for 
very shame from repeating the senseless pre 
fences to which they have had recourse to ter- 
rify the timid. Wretches ! how have they 
been able to imagine that the victims of their 
fury, with whom the whites of Cuba have 
shared in common the horrors of misery and 
persecution, will turn against their own friends 
at the call of the very tyrant who has torn 
them in pieces ? If the free colored people, 
who know their interests as well as the whites, 
take any part in the movement of Cuba, it cer 
tainly will not be to the injury of the mother 
who shelters them in her bosom, nor of those 
other sons of hers who have never made them 
feel the difference of their race and condition, 
and who, far from plundering them, have taken 
pride in being their defenders, and in meriting 
the title of their benefactors. 

The world would refuse to believe the his- 
tory of the horrid crimes which have been per- 
petrated in Cuba, and would reasonably con- 
sider that if there have been monsters to com- 
mit, it is inconceivable that there could so long 
have been men to endure them. But if there 
are few able to penetrate to the truth of par- 
ticular facts, through all the means employed 
by the government to obscure and distort them, 
no one will resist the evidence of public and 
official facts. 

Publicly, and with arms in his hards, did 
Gen. Tacon despoil Cuba of the constitution of 
Spain, proclaimed by all the powers of the 
monarchy, and sent to be sworn to in Cuba, as 
the fundamental law of the whole kingdom. 

Publicly, and by legislative act, was Cuba 
declared to be deprived of all the rights en- 
joyed by all Spaniards, and conceded by nature 
and the laws of nations the least advanced in 
civilization. 

Publicly have the sons of Cuba been cut off 
from all admission to the commands and lucra- 
tive employments of the state. 

Public are the unlimited powers, of every 
description, granted to the Captain- Generals of 
Cuba, who can refuse to those whom they con- 
demn even the right of a trial, and the privil- 
ege of being sentenced by a tribunal. 

Public and permanent, in the island of Cuba, 
are those court martials, which the laws, permit 
only in extraordinary cases of war, for offences 
against the state. 

Publicly has the Spanish press hurled against 
Cuba the threat of converting the island 'into 
ruin and ashes, by liberating the slaves, and 
unchaining against her the hordes of barbarian 
Africans. 

Public are the impediments and difficulties 
imposed npon every individual, to restrain him 
from moving from place to place, and from ex- 
ercising any branch of industry — no one being 
safe from arrest and fine, for some deficiency 



of authority or license, at every etfep be may 
take. 

Public are the taxes which have wasted 
away the substance of the island and the pro- 
jects of other new ones, which threaten to 
abolish all the products of its riches — nothing 
being left for its people but the toils to produce 
them. 

Public are the petty exactions and plunder- 
ings. at every turn, inflicted in the most un- 
blushing manner, in addition to (he general 
impositions by the subaltern mandarins of 
authority in their respective localities, 

Finally, the government haa publicly and 
officially declared — and the journals in its pay 
have labored to sustain the declaration with 
foul commentary — " that the inhabitants of 
Cuba have no organ nor right of action, even 
for the purpose of directing an humble prayer 
to the feet of the sovereign.'' The fact that 
the corporation of Puerto Principe, with the 
authorization of the Governor, who presided 
over it, addressed to the Queen a memorial to 
the effect that the royal court (audiencis) shall 
not be suppressed in that district, gave rise to 
the removal of the members of the corporation 
from office, and to the unheard-of arbitrariness 
of that declaration, in which to increase the 
outrage, it added that the government is not 
bound in its proceedings to consult the opin- 
ions and interests of the country. 

Outrages so great and so frequent, reasons 
so many and so strong, suffice not merely to 
justify, but to sanctify, in the eyes of the whole 
world, the cause of the independence of Cub.\ 
and any effort of her people, by then p , n ex- 
ertions, or with friendly aid from abroad, to 
put an end to the evils they suffer, and secure 
the rights with which God and nature have in- 
vested man. 

Who will in Cuba oppose this indefeasible 
instinct, this imperative necessity of defending 
our property, and of seeking in the institution© 
of a. just, free, and regulated government, that 
welfare and security which are the conditions 
on which alone civilized society can exist ? 

The Peninsulars, (natives of Spain) perhaps, 
who have come to Cuba to marry our daughters, 
who have here their children, their affections 
and their property, will they disregard the 
laws of nature to range themselves on the side - 
of a government which oppresses them as it 
oppresses us, and which will neither thank 
them for the service, nor be able, with all their 
help, to prevent the triumph of the indepei» 
ence of Cuba ? 

Are not they as intimately bound up wi)^ 
the happiness and interest of Cuba as those 
blood natives of her soul, who will never be 
able to deny the name of their fathers, and 
who, in rising up to-day againt the despotism 
of the government, would wish to count upon 
their co-operation as the best guaranty of their 
new social organization, and the strongest proof 
of the justice of their cause ? 

Have they not fought in the Peninsula itr.olf, 
for their national independence, for the support 
of the same principles for which we, the sons 
of Cuba proclaim, and which, being the same 
for men in all countries, cannot be admitted in 



LIPE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



IV 



all countries, cannot be admitted in one and re- 
jected in another without doing treason to na- 
ture and to the light of reason, from -which 
they spring ? 

N 0j n0 — it cannot be that they should carry 
submissiveness to the point of preferring their 
own ruin, and the spilling of the blood of their 
eons and brothers, to the triumph of the holiest 
cause ever embraced by man — a cause which 
aims to promote their own happiness, and to 
protect their rights and properties. The Pen- 
insulars who adoin and enrich our soil, and to 
•whom the title of labor gives as high a right 
as our own to its preservation, know very well 
that the sons of Cuba regard them with per- 
sonal affection — have never failed to recognise 
the interest and reciprocal wants which unite 
the two — nor have ever held them responsible 
for the perverseness of the few, and for the 
iniquities of a government whose infernal poli- 
cy alone has labored to separate them, on the 
tyrant's familiar maxim — to divide and con- 
quer. 

We, who proceed in good faith, and with 
the noble ambition of earning the applause of 
the world for the justice of our acts — we surely 
cannot aim at the destruction of our brothers, 
nor at the usurpation of their properties ; and 
far from meriting that vile calumny 'which the 
government will endeavor to fasten upon us, 
we do not hesitate to swear, in the sight of God 
and of man, that nothing would better accord 
with the wishes of our hearts, or with the glory 
and happiness of our country, than the co- 
operation of the Peninsulars in the sacred work 
ration. United with them, we could 
realize that idea of entire independence which 
is a pleasing one to their own minds ; but if 
tbey present themselves in our way as enemies, 
we shall not be able to answer for the security 
Of their persons and properties, nor, when ad- 
venturing all for the main object of the liberty 
of Cuba, shall we be able to renounce any 
means of effecting it. 

But if we have all these reasons to expect 
that the Peninsulars, who are in nowise depend- 
ent on the government, and who are so bound 
up with the fate of Cuba, will at least remain 
neutral, it will not be supposed that we can 
promise ourselves the same conduct on the part 
E army, the individuals composing whiefc, 
without ties or affections, know no other law 
ncr consideration than the will of their com- 
mander. We pity the lot of those unfortunate 
men, subject to a tyranny as hard as our own, 
who, torn from their homes in the flower of 
their youth, have been brought to Cuba to op- 
press us, on conments and hopes of life. If 
they shall appreciate the difference between 
the condition of themselves renouncing the dig- 
nity of men and all the enjoyments of a free 
and happy citizen and a dependent and hireling 
soldier, and choose to accept the benefits of 
liberty and prosperity, whicii we tender them, 
we will admit them into our ranks as brethren, 
if they shall disregard the dictates of 
Reason and of their own interests, and allow 
themselves to be controlled by the insidious 

epresentationo of their tyrants, so as to regard 
. t as their duty to oppose themselves to us on 
2 



the field of battle as enemies, we will then ac- 
cept the combat, alike without hate and with- 
out fear, and always willing, whenever they 
may lay down their arms, to welcome them to 
our embrace. 

To employ the language of moderation and 
justice — to seek for means of peace and con- 
ciliation — to invoke the sentiments of love and 
brotherhood — befits a cultivated and Christian 
people, which finds itself forced to appeal to 
the violent recourse of arms, not for the pur- 
pose of attacking the social order and the lives 
of fellow beings, but to recover the condition 
and the rights of man, usurped from them by 
' an unjust and tyrannical power. But let not 
| the expression of our progress and wishes en- 
' courage in our opponents the idea that we are 
ignorant of our resources, or distrustful of our 
strength. All the means united, at the dis- 
posal of the Peninsulars in Cuba, against ue, 
| could only make the struggle more protracted 
I and disastrous ; but the issue in our favor could 
| not be any the less sure and decisive. 

In the ranks of independence we have to 
I count all the free sons of Cuba, whatever may 
be the color of their race — the brave nations 
of South America, who inhabit our soil, and 
who have already made trial of the strength 
and conduct of our tyrants — the sturdy isl- 
anders of the Canaries, who love Cuba as their 
country, and who have already had an Her- 
nandez and a Montes de Oca, to seal with the 
proof of martyrdom, the heroic decision of their 
compatriots for our cause. 

The ranks of the government would find, 
themselves constantly thinned by desertion, by 
the climate, by death, which from all quarters 
woulcl spring up among them in a thousand 
: short of mean? to pay and main- 
tain their army, dependent on recruits from 
Spain to fill up their vacancies, without an inch 
of friendly ground on which to plant their feet, 
or an individual on whom to rely with security, 
j war in the field would be for them one of ex- 
j termination ; while, if they shut themselves 
| within the defences of their fortresses, hunger 
| and want would soon compel them to abandon 
'them, if they were not carried by force of 
| arms. The example of the whole contiaent of 
Spanish America, under circumstances more 
! favorable for them, when they had Cuba as 
j their arsenal, the benefit of her coffers, and na 
tive aid, in those countries themselves, ought 
to serve them as a lesson not to undertake an 
; exterminating and fratricidal struggle, which 
i could not fail to be attended with the same or 
I worse results. 

We, on the other hand, besides our own re- 
sources, have, in the neighboring states of the 
Union, and in all the republics of America, the 
encampments of our troops, the depots of our 
supplies, and the arsenals of our arms; All 
the sons of this vast New World, whose ho^om 
shelters the island of Cuba, and who have had, 
like us, to shake off by force the yoke of ty 
ranny, will enthusiastically applaud our re 
solve, will fly by hundreds to place themselvee 
beneath the flag of liberty ir our ranks, and 
their trained and experienced valor will aid us 
in annihilating, once find for always, the la 



18 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



badge of ignominy that still disgraces the free 
and independent soil of America. 

If we have hitherto hoped, with patience and 
resignation, that justice and their own interests 
would change the mind of our tyrants ; if we 
have trusted to external efforts to bring the 
mother country to a negotiation which should 
avoid the disasters of war, we are resolved to 
prove bj r deeds that inaction and endurance 
have not been the results of impotence and 
cowardice. Let the government undeceive it- 
self in regard to tbe power of its bayonets and 
the efficacy of all the means it has invented to 
oppress and watch us. In the face of its very 
authorities — in the sight of the spies at our 
side — on the day when we have resolved to de- 
mand back our rights, and by force to break 
our chains, nothing has prevented 113 from com- 
bining the plan of our revolution ; and the cry 
of liberty and independence will rise from the 
Oape of San Antonia to the Point of May si. 

"We, then, as provisional representatives of 
the people of Cuba, and in exercise of the rights 
which God and nature have bestowed upon 
every freeman, to secure his welfare and estab 



nor incapable of meriting our liberty and 
achieving our independence. 

Joaquin De Agheeo Aguero, 

FUANCISCO AcUEllO EsTRADOA, 

TJbaldo Ap„teaca Pina. 
July 4, 1851. 

After the reading of the above, die ut- 
most enthusiasm prevailed ; the mercurial 
Creoles rent the air with cries of " Liberty 
— death to the Spaniard — Cuba without 
chains." Suddenly there was a commo- 
tion in the crowd ; all eyes were turned 
to the left, and they beheld a large troop 
of lancers and another of infantry ap- 
proaching them. In a moment, Aguero 
Aguero, the leader of the Liberators, 
spoke a few words, in a low voice, to 
those immediately around him ; these 
filed off from the platform, mingled among- 
the throng, hurriedly communicated the 
order they had received from their chief, 
and the concourse formed at once into di- 
visions of 100 men each. 

Aguero Aguero placed himself at their 



lish himself under the form of government that (head, gave them a few hurried directions, 
suits him, do solemnly declare, taking God to' and then calmly awaited the approach 
witness tho ends we propose, and invoking the and action of the foe. 



favor of the people of America, who have pre 
ceded us with their example, that the Island of 
Cuba is, and, by the laws of nature ought to 
be, independent of Spain ; and that henceforth 
the inhabitants of Cuba arc free from all obe- 
•dieuce or subjection to the Spanish government, 
and the individuals composing it ; owing sub- 
mission only to the authority and direction of 
those who, while awaiting the action of the 
general suffrage of the people, are charged, or 
may provisionally charge themselves, with the 
command and government of each locality, and 
of the military forces. 

By virtue of this declaration, the free sons of 
Cuba, and the inhabitants of the island who ad 
here to her cause, are authorized to take up 
arms, to unite into corps, to name officers and 
juntas of government, for their organization 
and direction, for the purpose of putting them- 
selves in communication with the juntas con- 
stituted for the proclamation of the independ- 
ence of Cuba, and which have given the initia- 
tive to this movement./ Placed in the imposing 
attitude of making themselves respected, our 
compatriots will prefer all the means of per- 
suasion to those of force ; they will protect the 
property of neutrals, whatever may be their 
origin ; they will welcome the Peninsulars into 
their ranks as brothers, and will respect all 
property. 

If, notwithstanding our purposes and frater- 
nal intentions, the Spanish government should 
find partizans obstinately bent upon sustaining 
it, and we have to owe our liberty to the force 
of arms, sons of Cuba, let us prove to the re- 
publics of America which are contemplating us, 
that we, having been the last to follow their 
example does not make us unworthy of them, 



The latter advanced with great confi- 
dence, and when within about fifty yards 
of the patriots, the infantry opened a 
fierce quick fire, when the lancers, with 
a wild shout, rushed forward to follow up 
the advantage. Six of the • patriots feu, 
at the first discharge, but ere the lancers 
could reach them, a sharp, fierce volley 
from Aguero Aguero's divisions unhorsed 
some twenty-five of them, when the re- 
mainder wheeled, and hurried back to the 
rear of the infantry. Aguero now ordered 
his divisions lo advance, and another dis- 
charge settled the fate of the contest, and 
so operated upon the nerves of the troops, 
that they turned upon their heels and fled, 
wwk all speed, back to Port Principe, 
whither the patriots did not deem it poli- 
tic to follow them, inasmuch as the in- 
habitants of that city, perfectly cowed 
down by the queen's troops, were not 
brave and generous enough to join them, 
even in the flush of victory, whereas the 
Creoles of the interior were not only 
brave and patriotic, but also willing to en- 
courage, protect and succor them in every 
extremity. 

They therefore, instead of proceeding 
towards the city or remaining in the ad- 
joining neighborhood, pushed on still fur- 
ther into the interior, and finally pitched 
their camp on the plains of Guanama- 
quilla. Here they were followed and 
attacked on the 6th, by General Lemory i 
at the head of six hundred men. The battle .. 
was short and decisive ; the Spaniards t) 



S 



\ 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOJ 



J'.! 



were routed, leaving forty of their number, 
killed and wounded, behind them. Gen- 
eral Lemory fled with great rapidity, with 



where they were speedily joined by sev- 
enty Creoles of the neighborhood. They 
had scarcely assembled, however, when 



a severe wound in his left arm, and losing i they were attacked by a large force of the 



his sword in his flight. Thus far the 
troops had proved themselves unequal to 
a contest with the Creoles, and the latter, 
dusbed vviih success, quitted the plains, 



queen's troops, comprising three hundred 
and fifty cavalry and five hundred infant- 
ry. .Notwithstanding this great dispro- 
portion, the patriots decided upon yielding 



divided into divisions of one hundred men! only with defeat. The contest was brief, 



each, separated, and started off in various 
directions, to extend and increase the re- 
volt. This was their first error. So long 
as they remained together, they were ca- 
pable cf maintaining their position against 
all the forces that would be likely to be 



sharp and decisive. The Creoles, indiffer- 
ently armed, were speedily routed and 
dispersed ; some twenty-five slain, and 
forty taken prisoners. Of the troops, fifty 
were killed, and eighty wounded. 
Another division, commanded by Don 



arrayed against them. It was at this Serapin Recio, advanced towards Santa 
stage of their operations, viz: their defeat) Cruz, and shortly before reaching the riv- 
of General Lemory, and the scattering ofjer, was informed that four companies of 



their divisions to extend the revolt, that 
they transmitted the details of their suc- 
cess to Lopez and the Junta. 

Let us now see what became of them 



the regiment of Cantabria were marching 
in the same direction, under command of 
Col. Conti ; but that the river being swol- 
len, they were occupied in making rafts 



subsequent to the commission of this fa-ito cross it. Recio, immediately ordered a 



tal error. 

One party of a hundred men, under 
Aguero, proceeded to the small town of 
Las Tunas, where they arrived late in the 
evening. Filing off into two divisions of 
fifty each, they entered the town with 
loud shouts, at two different points, and 
awakening the inhabitants, called upon 
them to join with them in their struggle 
for delivering their country. In a brief 
season, Las Tunas was in a violent com- 
motion ; the alarm was rung, the garrison 
with its five hundred men was hurriedly 
aroused, the lieutenant-governor called on 
the troops for protection, and while the 
latter went out to meet the liberators, the 
worthy governor carefully sought safety 
in the garrison. A few of the inhabitants 
responded with alacrity to the call of the 
patriots, who now, under the guidance of 
the new reduirs, directed their march to- 
wards the garrison, for the purpose of de- 
manding its surrender. As we have said, 



march towards that point. He watched 
the enemy's movements, and when suffi- 
ciently near, without being seen, he 
planted his men in ambuscade, and wait- 
ed till they should begin the crossing on 
the raft. That took place. The com- 
mander of the enemy crossed at the head 
of the first company, and landed, and the 
raft, drawn back by the ropes, returned to 
the opposite bank to bring over the second ; 
the patriots remaining meanwhile motion- 
less and ready for the attack. The raft 
began to move with the second company, 
and then the patriots fell upon them des- 
perately, scattered confusion among them, 
took prisoner Col. Conti, six officers, and 
fifty-six soldiers. The number of killed 
on the banks was thirty-six, without 
counting a great number of wounded, to- 
gether with various materials of war 
taken from the enemy. With these, Recio 
continued his route, but was suddenly be- 
set by about four hundred cavalry, himself 



the hour was late, the night somewhat 'taken, fifty-six of his men slain, and the 
dark, and the liberators divided into two balance either captured or put to flight. 
parties,? and while each was proceeding' Another division, of a hundred men, 
toward.; the garrison, they suddenly met proceeded to Punta de Ganado, where 
in a dan; street, when each deeming the J they had scarcely arrived, when they 
other -the enemy, they fired, and engaged were attacked by five hundred horse and 
in fierce conflict. The sound of their guns i an equal number uf infantry. The battle 
served to direct the troops who were in! lasted about fifteen minutes, resulting in 



search 01 them, and the latter fell upon 
them. In an instant, the patriots perceiv- 
ed their mistake, panic seized them, and 
they turned and fied. The troops pursued 
them, but succeeded in bringing down on- 
ly two of their number, whom, with their 
usual barbarity, they instantly disem- 
bowelled. 

Another party of a hundred men, pro- 
ceeded south of Puerto Principe, and en- 
camped on the plains near Santa Isabel, 



the utter defeat of the liberators. Many 
were captured, a few killed, and the re- 
mainder sought safety in the mountains, 
whither they were unsuccessfully pursued 
by the troops. 

Another party, of a similar number, 
directed their steps to LaSiguanea, where 
they were met and routed by a vastly su- 
perior force. 

Another, and the last division, proceed- 
ed, under Aguero. to Nuevitas, which 



20 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



they entered in triumph. The people 
joined in considerable numbers, and if 
they had been armed, all would doubtless 
have went well. The troops evinced no 
anxiety to attack them, and quietly .await- 
ed the arrival of reinforcements. The 
latter soon arrived in great force, when 
the Spanish commander, Don Carlos Co- 
mus, finding that he had seventeen hun- 
dred well appointed troops to fight two 
hundred and fifty badly armed men, 
marched out with a great flourish of 
trumpets to attack them. The patriots, 
however, received him with considerable 
bravery and skill. At the first fire, sixty- 
five of the Spaniards went down, and 
their weapons were speedily transferred 
to the hands of the opposing party. The 
battle was continued for three hours, at 
the end of which time the force of the 
patriots was reduced to eighty men, and 
these without powder. Hope now was at 
an end, and since it is impossible to fight 
without means, Aguero and his party 
sought safety in flight, but were finally 
captured. 

These events were concluded on the 
27th of July, at which time the whole of 
the patriots who had assembled on the 
4th, to hear the Declaration of Cuban In- 
dependence read, and who performed such 
brilliant feats on that eventful day, were 
either taken, killed, or had abandoned 
the cause through terror. 

Military commissions were ordered at 
Puerto Principe and Trinidad, by Concha, 
the Captain General, to try the Chief Ar- 
menteros, and part of his followers, all of 
whom were condemned — the Lieutenant 
Captain of Militia, D. Jose Isidoro Armen- 
teros, D. Fernando Hernandez, and D. 
Rafael Arcis, to the punishment of death, 
to be shot in the back ; D. Ignacio Belen 
Perez, D. Nestor Cadalso,D. Juan O'Bourke, 
D. Abeja Iznaga Miranda, and D. Jose 
Maria Rodriguez, to the punishment of 
ten years' imprisonment abroad, with per- 
petual prohibition of returning to this 
island ; D. Juan Hevia and D. Avelino 
Porada, to eight years' imprisonment un- 
der the same condition ; D. Pedro Jose 
Pomares, D. Fonbio Garcia D. Cruz Birba, 
and D. Fernando Medinilla, two years' 
imprisonment with the same prohibition. 
The sentence was approved by the Cap- 
tain General, and executed on the 18ih of 
August, the three first in the field called 
del Negro, near Trinidad. 

On the 9th of August, the first sentence 
of the consejo of war of the Military 
Commission of Puerto Principe was given, 
condemning D. Joaquin Aguero y Aguero, 
D. Jose Thomas Betancourt, D. Fernando 
de Zayas, and D. Miguel Benavides, to 
the punishment of death by garrote ; and 



D. Miguel Castellanos, and D. Adolfo 
Pierre Aguero, to ten years' imprison- 
ment, the first not being" of age, and the 
second having circumstances in his favor. 
The sentence was approved by the Gen- 
eral Commander, and, not having an exe- 
cutioner in the city, the four first were 
shot, on the morning of the 12lh. 

Intelligence of the preceding disasters- 
had not as yet reached the Junta. The 
last despatches received were those rela- 
ting to the success of the patriots. Pro- 
foundly ignorant of what had followed 
since the date of their last letters, judg- 
ing by them that the Creoles were tho- 
roughly awakened to a sense of their own. 
power, that they were arousing their 
countrymen to action at every point, that 
their triumphs over the Spanish troops 
had not ceased, and that the Island was 
now, as they were led to infer by the tenor 
of their last despatches, in a complete 
state of revolt, Lopez and his coadjutors 
came at once to the unanimous decision, 
that now was the hour. 

Intelligence to that, effect was therefore 
transmitted to the agents of the enterprise 
in various sections of the Union, instruct- 
ing them to get ready and start immedi- 
ately to the assistance of the Creoles, 
designating the points of the Island at. 
which they were to land, and promising 
that Lopez, with five hundred picked men, 
would precede them. 

To comply with this order was, as the 
reader is no doubt fully aware, and as 
the agents of the Junta very well knew, 
not the simplest and easiest of feats. 
Hired spies were continually at their 
heels ; they did not make a movement 
that was unwatched. Added to the spies 
in the pay of the Spanish officials, they 
had the argus eyes of the United States 
authorities to blind and evade. This was 
easier lo conceive than to execute. Nev- 
ertheless, in defiance of all of these diffi- 
culties, the agents calmly set to work tc 
fulfil the instructions of the Junta. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE LAST MOVEMENT OF EOPEZ. 

A few days only were necessary tor 
the Junta to complete the preparations 
necessary for an immediate departure. 
This accomplished, Lopez went on board 
the Junta's steamer, the Pampero, accom- 
panied by his staff, and four hundred men. 
Steam was instantly put up, and the Pam- 
pero glided, amid the cheers of a large 
throng of spectators, out into the stream. 
While passing down the Mississippi, the 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISA LOPEZ,. 



21 



steamer was hailed by a large number of Lieutenant, William Hobbs; Second do., J, A. 

flibustieros, the majority of whom were 'Simpson; Third do., James Craogh. 

taken up ; but on (he captain stating lhati Company F. — Captain, Wm. Stewart ; First 

it was impossible to carry them all, a por- i Lieutenant, James L. Down ; Second do,, John 

tion of them debarked, leaving four hun-, L - Ba9S ; Third do -> Thos - HudwalL 

dred and eighty on board, and with this R^imevt of Arlillcrn.— Officers of the Staff. 

number, the Pampero proceeded to Key ~ 0h } ef \ \ m - Ll , Cr '"enden ; Adjutant, R. L. 

West, for stores, where Lopez found a ^^anford; Second Master of Commissariat, Fe- 

letter from a correspondent at Havana,! ^"^ L ° A urge P on ' f J : udo £ c Y^ii « , 

stating that Pina d/lley, and almost all L233T#a3BSS IJrtSiFt 

of the Vuelta de Abajor, were m open ;] y owen8 . Third do.. J. 0. Bryce. 

insurrection, and that he had better pro- Company B.— Captain, Jas. Sounders; First 

ceed thither at once with his forces. I Lieutenant, Philip Van Vechten ; Second do., 

This letter, as has since been learned, i Beverly A. Hunter ; Third do., Wm. H. Craft. 

was written by the treacherous corres-j Company C— Captain, Victor Kerr; First 

pondent, a well known speculator of Ha-; Lieutenant" James Brandt; Second do., Wm. 

vana, and a former friend of Lopez, at JT. Vienne. 

the instigation of Concha, the Captain! Regiment of Cuban Patriots. — Company A. 

General of Cuba, and was false in every | — Captain, Ilde FouseeOverto; First Lieuten- 

oarticular. Deeming it accurate, how- ! ant > De Ji S a Hernandez ; Second do., Miguel 

ever, supposing it to have been written | L _°P ez ; Tnil 'd do., Jose A. Pianos; Fourth do., 

with the most friendly motives, not ; fr^T Lopez. 

dreaming for an instant that it was an I v ™? im % d ? f - ^O^ns.-M^ox George 

infamous snare to lead him to destruction, iB °/ lll % ; Ca P tam ' ^ adlsla " s P°lank; Iaeuten- 
t . l j . c l • 'ants, Sermerby, Johan Petroce. Adambert 

Lopez at once resolved to forego his or.g- ^ fe and & mfid Richner 

inal intention, which was to go to Port , German Regiment.-Captzin.KugoScblyct; 
Principe, to act upon the advice of the Lieutenants, Paul Michael, Biro Cambeas ; 
letter, and to proceed and land at some Captain, Pietra Muller; Lieutenant, Giovano 
point ol Vuelta de Abajor. He communi- Ipiacasee. 

cated his wish to Capt. Lewis the com-l After heari tne rt of the , et 

mander of the Pampero and that gent e- theofficers affr | ed w [ lllLopez> thatit was 
man turned the vessel s head in the de- their best p ° licyt0 proce £ d at once t0 
sited direction. Lopez then summoned Vuelta de Abajor 
his officers, and laid before them the con- 
tents of the letter. 



■ The following is a lis: of the force un- 
der his command. 

Six companies of infantry, including officers. 



Thither, then, the Pampero was head- 
ed ; and about 11 o'clock on the night of 
the 11th of August, she landed Lopez and 
his men at Morillo. 

As he touched the shore, he perceived,' 



219; three artillery, 1 14 ; one Cuban patriots. 'by the clear moonlight, that the place 
19; one Hungarian, 9; one German, 9 _ | was comparatively deserted: the build- 

List of OFHops-General-m-chief Narcwo jn werc < and forsak 

Lopez; second in command and chief of the; w f lh , he ^ { f ^ f 
starr, John Pragay ; officers of the staff, Cap-i, ■ a j c j- l ** if 

tain Emmrich Radwitoh; Lieutenants Joseph wh ? fled "J* ^ d,scha T rgeS ' Monllo J was 
Lewohl, and Jigys Rodendorf ; Adjutants Col- , without inhabitants. Lopez turned to 
engen and Blumenthal ; Captain Ludwig Captain Lewis, and bade him return to 
Schlessen^er ; Lieutenants Ludwig and Miller; *londa tor further recruits. The Pam- 
Surgeon Hega Leramgue. Commissary, G. A. P ero accordingly moved off, when Lopez, 
Cook. (leaving Col. Crittenden with fifty men, to 

Staff of the Regiment of Infantry. — Colonel look after the unnecessary arms and pro- 
R. L. Dorman, Lieutenant Colonel W. Scott visions, advanced to the next town, Las 
Harness, Adjutant George A. Graham; Com-'Posas, without encountering anything but 
missa'ry Joseph Bell. Adjutant of the Bfegi- a few countrymen, who fled as he ap- 
ment, George Parr. iproached. On reaching Las Posas, he 

Company A.— Captain, Robert Ellis; Lieu-!f oun( } tQe town abandoned, nor could all 
tenant, E. McDonald ; Sub-Lieutenant, J. L. La, his besC efforls persuade its inhabitants to 
Hascan; ditto, LH. Beslmbridge. retum< He remained at Las p osas , lU 

Company B. — Capcain, John Johnson; First ..„ i-n~ • , ■ 

Lieutenant, James Dunn; Second do.. J. F .,^e following morning, when he wa, 
Williams ; Third do., James OReilly. ,acked bv ***** hundred of the Qu 

Company C.-Captain, J. C. Bridghum : Fir8t| troo Py who - in , the pnd w<?re forced to re- 
Lieutenant, Richard Vowden; Second do, J.: u , rt '' leaving him in possession of the 
A.Gray; Third do., J. N. Baker. | place, with the loss of Coi. Pragay, Capt. 



Company D. — Captain, Philip Golday ; First 
Lieutenant, David L. Rassan ; Second do , John 
H. Landinghnm ; Third do., Jas. H. Vowden. 

Company E. — Captain, Henry Jackson ; First 



Oberto, and some fifty killed and wound- 
ed. Finding he did not encounter the 
expected sympathy amongst the people, 
and was attacked by the very troops whom 



22 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



he expected to join him, he resolved to 
resort to the mountains, and with this ob- 
ject started for Pinar del Rio, but by the 
error or treachery of his guide was con- 
ducted to the coffee estate of Frias, where 
he had another encounter with the troops, 
when they killed a large number of Span- 
iards, including Gen. Enna ; this encoun- 
ter resulted in the loss of four or five men, 
which with what were before lost, reduc- 
ed the force at Frias to 220 men, includ- 
ing 12 or 14 wounded. With these he 
passed to Brujo, and spending the night 
in union, went to Martitorenea or Cande- 
laria, where on the 21st, his force not ex- 
ceeding 200 men, when breakfasting, he 
was surprised, attacked, and his men dis- 
persed by the troops of the Queen. An 
hundred or more hid themselves in the 
forest, one-third without arms, where 
they remained for four days without any 
food except Lopez's horse, some corn, 
and wild plantains. 

Shorlly after the battle of Las Posas, 
Lopas received a note from Colonel Crit- 
tenden, complaining of the ignoble posi- 
tion in which he found himself at Morillo, 
and requesting permission to join him. 
Lopez sent hirn word by the messenger to 
do so, and at two o'clock of the following 
morning, Crittenden took up his march 
for Las Posas, some eight miles distant. 
He had scarcely proceeded three miles, 
when he was attacked by five hundred 
Spanish soldiers. In spite of this extraor- 
dinary disproportion, the gallant Critten- 
den, and his no less daring followers, turn- 
ed upon the troops, v/ho, astonished at 
such unlooked for audacity, gave way be- 
fore them. They returned to the charge, 
a few minutes afterward, and this time, 
succeeding in routing the little band, who 
fled into a deep chapparal on the right, 
where they remained two days and nights, 
without the slightest particle of food or 
drink. At the end of that time, they suc- 
ceeded in working their way to the sea 
shore, where they found four boats, which 
they entered, and with what little strength 
they had left, pulled out to sea. They 
lay and tossed all night upon the ocean, 
when, hunger and thirst rendering them 
feverish and delirious, they returned at 
daybreak to the sea shore, amid the rocky 
turnings of which they rowed, weary and 
faint, in search of food. The following is 
the official account of their capture, as re- 
lated by General de Bustillos, in a despatch 
to Concha, the Captain General : 

"Your Excellency: — I started yesterday 
from Bahia Honda, in the steamer Habanero, 
with a view to reconnoitre the coast of Playi- 
tas and Morillo, in order to remove all the 
means by -which the pirates could possibly es- 
cape ; or, in case of more expeditions to these 



points, to remove the means of disembarkation 
At seven o'clock in the morning, I communisa- 
ted with the inhabitants of Morillo, and was 
informed by the inhabitants that, at ten o'clock 
on the preceding night, one part of them em- 
barked in four boats, which were on the shore, 
in order to go to New Orleans, by taking the 
first vessel they could find. Having calculated 
the hour of their sailing, and the distance pro- 
bably made in ten hours, and supposing they 
had taken the direction of New Orleans, which 
was the cause of their having disappeared from 
the inhabitants of the neighborhood, I proceed- 
ed in that direction eighteen miles, with full 
steam ; but, after having accomplished that dis- 
tance, I could not discover any of those I pur- 
sued. Believing the road they had followed 
was within the rocks, I directed ray steamer to 
that point, and made the greatest exertions to 
encounter the fugitive pirates. At ten o'clock 
in the morning I found myself ia the proximity 
of the passage, and detected the four boats 
navigating along the coast, but so near to it 
that I was afraid of my inability to seise them.,. 
In order to take them, I ordered the steam to 
be pressed as much as possible ; and I think, 
myself correct in affirming to your Excellency 
that the steamer was running thirteen miles. 
This was not enough to overtake them. I could 
only seize one. Two others were upon the 
rocks of the island, the fourth upon the rocks 
of Cayo Levisa. When I seized tbe men of 
the first boat, I armed the boats, of the ship in 
order to pursue the second and third, which 
were on the rocks ; but the officers of the army 
who were in the boats, as well as tbe troops 
and sailors, the commander of the boat, D. Ig- 
nacio de Arellano, and the captain cf the 
steamer Cardenas, D. Francisco Estolt, threw 
themselves in the water to pursue the pirates, 
of whom two only escaped. Having left their 
arms, we did not pursue them, in order to oc- 
cupy ourselves with the boat in Cayo Levisa, 
for it was one of the largest and contained 
more men. In short, I armed the boats, and 
directed them to stop the debarkation of the 
men who were looking for a landing, and to 
pursue these fugitive pirates. These, twenty- 
tour in number, were hidden within a small 
creek, having the boat drawn up among the 
rocks ; and here the pirates were seized. The 
number of the prisoners was fifty, well armed 1 
men, headed by a chief and five officers. 

This important result proves that the faction 
is dispirited, and that the greater number have 
sought their safety by flight, astonished at the 
bravery of our soldiers, and convinced that their 
doctrines cannot find an echo in the country. 

At half past two o'clock in the evening I re- 
turned to Morillo, as the inhabitants, who in- 
formed me of the departure of the pirates, told 
me, also, that some parties of the fugitives 
were wandering in the neighborhood, and that 
the troops of her majesty were at a small dis- 
tance from this place. I sent to the commander, 
by a faithful peasant, this communication, with 
the names of the prisoners, whom I kerep, for 
the disposition of your Excellency, in the frigate 
Esperanza, in which I am just now starting 
again to sea." 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



23 



The arrival of the party in Havana was 
received by the Spaniards and blacks with 
demonstrations of the wildest delight. It 
was plain, these wretches were not ac- 
customed to the taking of prisoners,or they 
would not have made such a fuss over so 
small a number. 

The gallant Crittenden and his brave 
companions were hurried on deck, and 
exposed for a few hours to the wildest 
and most blasphemous imprecations of the 
cowardly dastards around them. The 
Spaniards make short work of men, once 
in their power, who have compelled them 
to tremble and taste of the bitterness of 
fear. 

The Captain General despatched an 
amanuensis to each of the prisoners, un- 
der the pretence of allowing them to send 
a parting word to their friends, but in re- 
ality to discover if there were any seerets 
to be thus obtained, of which he was 
not already in possession. Meanwhile, 
he was himself engaged in writing out 
their death warrant, and in despatching 
orders for their immediate execution. The 
following is a copy of the death-warrant : 

" It having been decreed by the general order 
of the 20th April last, and subsequently repro- 
duced, what was to be the fate of the pirates 
who should dare to profane the soil of this 
Island, and in view of the declarations of the 
fifty individuals who have been taken by his 
Excellency the Commander General of this na- 
val station, and placed at my disposal, which 
declarations establish the identity of their per. 
aon^, as pertaining to the horde commanded by 
the traitor Lopez, I have resolved, in accord- 
ance with the provisions of the Royal Ordi- 
nances, General Laws of the Kingdom, and par- 
ticularly in the Royal Order of the 12th June 
of the past year, issued for this particular case, 
that the said individuals, whose names and de- 
signations are set forth in the following' state- 
ment, suffer this day the pain of death, by be- 
ing shot, the execution being committed to the 
Senor Teniente de Rey, Brigadier of the Plaza. 
JOSE DE LA CONCHA." 

The following is a copy of the list of 
names attached to the statement refer 
red to : 

Colonel W. S. Crittenden, 
Captain F. S. Sewer, 

" Victor Kerr, 
T. B. Veacey, 
Lieutenant James Brandt, 

" J. O. Bryce, 

" Thomas C. James, 
Doctor John Fisher, 

" R A. Tourniquet, 
Sergeant J. Whitereus, 

[. Cotchett, 
Adjutant R. C. Stanford, 
Lieutenant M. H. Homes, 
Private Samuel Mills, 

" Edward Bulman, 



Private George A. Arnold, 

B. J. Wregy, 

" William Niseman, 
" Ansel mo Torres, 
" Hernandez, 

Patrick Dillon, 
" Thomas Hearsey, 
" Samuel Reed, 

H. T. Vinne. 

M. Philips. 
" Jame9 L. Manville. 

G. M. Green, 
" J. Salmon, 
" Napoleon Collins, 

N. H. Fisher, 

William Cbillmg. 

G. A. Cook. 
" S. 0. Jones, 

M. H. Ball, 
" James Buxet, 

Robert Caldwell, 

C. C. We Smith, 
" A. Ross, 

" P. Brourke, 
" John Christides. 
" Wm. B. Little, 
" Robert Cantley, 
" John G. Sanka, 
" James Stanton, 
" Thomas Harnatt, 
" Alexander Mcllcer, 
" John Stubbs, 
" Jame9 Ellis, 
" William Hogan, 
" Charles A. Robinson. 

This list embraces forty-nine, there 
were fifty- two shot. 

At nine o'clock, on the morning of the 
16th August, the order for their transfer 
from the steamer's deck to the place of 
execution was delivered, and they were 
marched down the vessel's gangway, one 
by one, stripped to trowsers and shirt, 
some even without the latter covering, 
bare headed, hands tightly bound behind 
their backs, into a ferry boat, transported 
to the foot of the Castle of Atares, at the 
head of the harbor, a distance of about 
one mile, and there landed for execution. 

An eye-witness thus describes the fright- 
ful scene : 

Havana, August 16 — 4-J f. m. 

I am too much affected to write to you more 
than to say that I have this day been witness 
to one of the most brutal acta of wanton inhu- 
manity ever perpetrated in the -nals of histo- 
ry. Not content, this government, in revenging 
themselves in the death of these unfortunate, 
and, perhaps, misguided men, I'.nd which, it 
may even bo said, was brought upon them- 
selves; but these Spanish authorities deserve 
to be most severely chastised for their exceed- 
ingly reprehensible conduct in permitting the 
desecration, as they have done, of the senseless 
clay of our brave countrymen. This morning 

Forty Americans, One Italian, 

Four Iri^h, One Philippine Islander, 

Cue Scotch, Two Habaneros, and 

Two Germans, or Hungarians, 



24 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



were shot at 11 o'clock — after which the troops 
were ordered to retire ; and some hundreds of 
the very vilest rabble and negroes, hired for 
the purpose, commenced stripping the dead 
bodies, mutilating their limbs, tearing out their 
eyes, cutting off their noses and fingers, and 
some of the poor fellows (privates) these 
wretches brought to the city on sticks, and pa- 
raded them under the very walhvof the palace. 
Oh, the very remembrance of the sight is 
frightful. 

I never saw men — and could scarcely have 
supposed it possible — conduct themselves at 
such au awful moment with the fortitude these 
men displayed under euch trying circumstances. 
They were shot six at a time, i. e., twelve were 
brought to the place of execution, six made to 
kneel down and receive the fire of the soldiers, 
after which the remaining six were made to 
walk round their dead comrades, and kneel op- 
posite to them, when they also were shot. * * P 
They died bravely, those gallant and unfortu- 
nate young men. When the moment of exe- 
cution came, many, Colonel Crittenden and 
Captain Victor Kerr among them, refused to 
kneel with their backs to their executioners. 
" NO," Baid the chivalrous Crittenden, " AN 
AMERICAN KNEELS ONLY TO HIS GOD, 
AND ALWAYS FACES HIS ENEMY." 
They stood up, faced their executioners, were 
shot down, and their brains then knocked out 
by clubbed muskets. After being stripped, 
and their bodies mutilated in the barbarous 
manner I have described, they were shoved, 
six or sGven together, bound as they were, into 
hearses, which were used last year for cholera 
cases. No coffins were allowed them; and I 
think the manner they were put into the 
hearses was equally as disgusting as the other 
acts ; the heads of some were almost dragging 
on the ground, and it had more the appearacce 
of a slaughter cart on its way to market from 
the slaughter-house, than that of a hearse con- 
veying the dead bodies of human beings. 

A finer looking set of young men I never 
saw ; they made not a single complaint, not a 
murmur, against their sentence, and decency 
should have been shown to their dead bodies, 
in admiration for the heroism they displayed 
when brought out for execution. Not a muscle 
was Been to move, and they proved to the mis- 
erable rabble congregated to witness the horrid 
spectacle, that, it being the fortune of war that 
they fell into the power of this government, 
they were not afraid to die. It would have 
been a great consolation to these poor fellows, 
as they repeatedly asked, to" see their consul, 
and, through him, to have sent their last adieus, 
and Buch little mementos as they had, to their 
beloved relations in the States. But Mr. Owens, 
the American Consul, did not even make appli 
cation to the Captain General to see these un- 
fortunate countrymen in their distress, and 
their sacred wishes in their last moments have 
been unattended to. Lastly, at the very hour 
of their triumph, when the people of the Span- 
ish steamer Habanero knew that the execution 
of the American prisoners, which they had ta- 
ken to Havana, was about to take place, two 



shots were fired across, or at, the steamer Fal- 
con, off Bahia Honda ; and, notwithstanding 
that this vessel was well known to them, hav- 
ing, as she had, the American flag hoisted, etc., 
she was detained and overhauled by these 
Spanish officers, who, upon returning to their 
vessel, commenced cheering and hissing at the 
Falcon, proud, no doubt, of the impunity with 
which they had detained an American mail 
steamer on the high seas, at their pleasure ! 

Let us now return to Lopez, whom we 
left with, his companions in a state of star- 
vation, in the wild intricacies of a forest. 
While in this position, the Spaniards, 
trembling lest he should, after alt, escape, 
sent word to Havana that it was impossi- 
ble to take Lopez by the ordinary means 
of warfare, that himself and men fought 
like devils, and that though unprovisioned 
and hemmed in on all sides by an im- 
mense number of troops, every attempt 
to capture him was utterly futile ; that 
the only hope of his destruction consisted 
in his abandonment by his men, and that 
inducements to that effect must be thrown 
out. In accordance with this suggestion, 
the Captain-General issued the following 

" PROCLAMATION. 

" The Most Excellent Senor, the Captain 
General, has seen proper to direct, under this 
date, to the Chiefs of column* in the field and 
to the Lieut/Governors of Bahia Honda, Mariel, 
San Christobal and Pinar del Rio, the follow- 
ing circular : 

" The greater part of the pirates who dared 
to invade the Island have been destroyed by 
the valiant troops of that army to whom the 
lot fell of being destined to pursue them, as 
well as by the not less decided and active co- 
operation of all the loyal inhabitants of the 
district they had sought to make their den. 
Considering, at once, the unanimous confession 
of all those who have been taken and executed, 
that they had been brought here into a foreign 
territory through a compLete deception, having 
been made to believe that the country called 
them, that the army would make common cause 
with them, and that triumph would be as easy 
as it was certain, such being the promise of the 
traitor who led them ; and that the directors of 
such a foolish and disorderly enterprise could 
not, in any other way, have got together the 
multitude connected therewith; and also that 
public vengeance has already been satisfied by 
the severe chastisement inflicted on those indi- 
viduals hitherto captured, as well as those that 
have perished by the balls or the bayonets of 
our gallant troops ; and that, finally, the time 
has arrived to make use of clemency, according 
to the dictates of humanity, I have determined : 

" 1. That quarter shall be given to every in- 
dividual belonging to the baud under command 
of the traitor Lopez, who shall surrender or be 
taken by the troops of her Majesty within fuur 
days from the publication of this resolution in 
the respective districts ; it being well under- 
stood that after the expiration of that period, 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCEJO LOPEZ, 



2S 



aeral army order of April 20, last, will 
remain in fail ;'')rce, as it has up to now. 

. The individual or individuals belonging 
to said band who shall surrender said leader, 
Lopez, shall be free from all punishment, and 
if he be a foreigner, shall be restored to his own 
country. 

This I communicate to you for your exact 
observance, ordering that it be immediately 
published in all the district under your com- 
mand. God guard your Excellency many 
years ! Havana, Aug. 2-t, 1851. 

Jose de la Concha." 

Copies of this document were spread 
like rain drops. They were posted on 
the highways, on the mountains, on the 
borders of the forests and chapparals, on 
the bushes, in the towns, villages, on the 
plains — iu f'actj everywhere. The result 
was, that the scattered members of the 
expedition, losing all hope, cut off from 
their chief, perceiving that the people af- 
forded them neither sympathy nor assist- 
ance, and that all further resistance was 
idle, came out from their retreats in the 
woods and hills, and, making their way 
to the Spanish commandants, gave them- 
selves up. The great majority of these, 
instead of receiving the protection prom- 
ised by the captain general's pronunciamen- 
to, were treacherously murdered in cold 
blood. Instead of being served as prison- 
ers who, trusting in the pledge of their 
enemy, had voluntarily thrown down their 
arms and entrusted themselves into his 
hands, they were brutally and treacher- 
ously given ov r er to the fury of the cow- 
ardly troops, who, with the black instinct 
of savages, fell upon them like hounds. 
The miserable wretches were slaughtered 
like beasts. The Spaniards, to whom 
nothing is too infamous, ripped open their 
bowels, dug oat their eyes with their bay- 
onets, flayed them in the fierce rays ol a 
broiling sun, bayonetted them through the 
spine and skull, and literally tore them to 
pieces ; and during this frightful butch- 
ery, their black-hearted officers calmly 
looked on, with smiles of encouragement, 
and chuckled over their suffering victims. 
in their reports to the captain-general, of 
the destruction of these men, the officers 
interlarded them with the most ludicrous 
gasconade, stating that they had heroic- 
ally captured '. ! ! them, in the course of 
which they performed the most remarka- 
ble feats of strategy and heroism witness- 
ed in modern times ! 

Hunger at length drove Lopez and his 
few remaining followers from the forest 
to the mountains. Of course, watched 
as they were on all sides, it was impossi- 
ble to do this in a body. They therefore 
separated into small parties, took djflfer- 
ent directions, and made for the monu-J 



tains. In this only a few were success- 
ful. The majority were discovered and 
captured. Lopez was not of these. Fa- 
miliar with the ground, and the character 
of the Spaniards, he succeeded in quitting 
the forest, accompanied by six devoted 
followers, whose attachment would not 
permit to them to leave him upon any con- 
sideration. Weak, hungered, and weary, 
he staggered across the country, and 
finally stumbled upon a coffee-plantation 
in Los Pinos de Ranges. The proprietor 
was a Creole, and received Lopez and his 
small party with every assurance of pro- 
tection. He took them into his house, 
gave them what they most desired, and 
what their famished appearance told him 
plainly they had long been without — a 
substantial meal. Having partaken of 
this, the party, at Lopez's request, were 
shown to a chamber, where they sought 
the (to them) luxury of repose. Scarcely 
were they asleep, when the treacherous 
Creole despatched intelligence to the near- 
est Spanish outpost of their position. The 
messenger, while on his way, met a 
Spanish scout, by the name of Jose An- 
tonio Castenada, to whom he mentioned 
the object of his errand. The latter im- 
mediately collected some fifteen or more 
peasants, and hastened to the plantation. 
The Creole conducted him to the room, 
where Lopez and his six companions lay 
wrapped in slumber. Castenada and the 
peasants cautiously approached, seized, 
and bound them. When Lopez and his 
companions awoke, it was to find them- 
selves tied fast, and prisoners. Half an 
hour afterwards a large force of Spanish 
troops made their appearance, into whose 
hands they were delivered by the treach- 
erous host and the scout Castenada. The 
news of Lopez's capture spread with the 
rapidity of light. He was conveyed with 
all speed to Havana, and thrown into 
prison. The inhabitants were wild with 
delirious delight at the capture of this 
man who had caused them so much ter- 
ror. They could scarcely credit their 
senses. They danced, raved, shouted, and 
capered about like so many idiots. The 
news of his capture was received on 
Saturday, the 30th. It was announced to 
the people by the discharge of camon, 
and every demonstration ot The 

day was made one of jubilee. Stores were 
closed, business was neglected, and Te 
Deums were sung in all the churches. 
Havana was absolutely rabid— the Span- 
iards, Creoles, and blacks, were like a 
populace of lunatics. In the evening all 
the public and a majority of the pn\ 
buildings were illuminated ; torchlight 
processions were fumed : strangers shook 
hauds, and danced ridiculously U) ihc 



26 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



streets ; the silliest antics of a silly, cow- 
ardly, treacherous, gasconading people, 
were indulged in. A stranger looking on 
them, would naturally fancy that he had 
got, hy some strange chance, into a city of 
fools. The following day, Sunday, which 
is usually a holiday with the Cuhans, was 
rendered doubly so. Cannon roared from 
dawn till sunset. The air rang with the 
din of ordnance, and wild shouts for Con- 
cha and the Queen. Effigies of Lopez, 
dressed in the uniform of a General, with 
a game-cock under his left arm and a pack 
of cards in his right hand, were raised, 
dragged, rent, and shot at, by the insane 
rabble, in every part of the town. The 
Captain-General was not exempt from the 
general folly. The milk in his organiza 



wherever they set their disgraceful feet upon 
your soil, converted yourselves into other sol- 
diers, capable as any of bearing arms. Not only 
have you aided the army and authorities with 
every kind of succor — not only have you de- 
prived the enemy of every means of assuring 
his flight — but, like worthy rivals of the army 
in valor and enthusiasm, you, without cessation 
or fatigue, beset the pirates, encountering the 
dangers and sharing with the troops the labor 
and fatigues of a war at this season, and in one 
of the roughest parts of the ' island. Fortune 
has crowned your efforts and ret the seal to 
your unequaled loyalty, one of you being the 
instrument of surrendering the traitor chief, as 
he fled, wandering and fearful of the just pun- 
ishment thet threatened him. 

With the decision and enthusiasm of which 
you have now given so many and such distin- 



Son was displayed in ludicrous flatteries g^bed P^ofs with the generous patriotism 
„r ,u „ „nlo f«r what hp was r,l MS Pd t.oM" ch bas spelled the merchants, proprietors 



of the people for what he was pleased to 
call their enthusiasm, and in compliments 
to the Spanish officers and troops for what 
he saw fit to term their nobleness, patriot- 
ism, and valor, in routing, slaying, and 
capturing seven hundred men with a force 
on their own side of nineteen thousand. 
Brave heroes ! The following was his 
gratulatory pronunciamento : 

PROCLAMATION 

OF THE CAPTAIN- GENERAL. GOVERNMENT AND 
CAPTAIN- GEN ERALCY OF THE EVER FAITHFUL IS- 
LAND OF CUBA. 

Inhabitants of the Island : 

It is my duty to manifest to you my satisfac- 
tion at your deportment during the events which 



and corporations of the Islaud to place their 
fortunes at the disposition of the Government 
in fine, with that intimate union which sub- 
sist between the army and the people of all 
classes and conditions, a union cemented by the 
loyalty and national feeling which have im- 
mortalized the name of Spain, your tranquility 
is insured and the Queen of the Antillies will 
never cease to he Spanish ; for, when a people 
repels those who assail its nationality as yon 
have done, there is: no force sufficient to subju- 
gate it. History offers us a palpitating exam- 
ple of the truth of this assertion in the memo- 
rable War of Independence. Tou have shown 
yourselves the worthy sons of those who then 
astonished the world with their valor and con- 
stancy. Receive, therefore, my sincere and. cor- 
dial felicitation, secure that your august Sove- 
have just terminated in a manner most glorious | reign will learn with rejoicing this new proof 
to the great Nation to which we all belong. of loyalty given her by her ever faithful Island 
It is notorious that in a foreign country sun- of Cuba. 



dry persons without law or conscience have de 
signed to snatch this lovely island from the very 
Nation which endowed the world with the he- 
misphere of which it forms the most beautiful 
part. Frustrated in their attempt at Cardenas, 
they believed they might accomplish the crimi- 
nal object to which they aspired, by seducing a 
few inexperienced and incautious youths to re- 
bel against their queen and their country. But 
your loyalty and the valor of the army have 
brought to an end their insignificant move- 
ments as soon as they had begun by their in- 
triguing promoters. And as if they bad pro- 
posed to remove every slightest trace of doubt 
concerning the true origin of their movements, 
they subsequently organized an expedition un- 
der the leading of the traitor Lopez, which de- 
barked on the northern coast of the western 
part of this Department. 

Hardly two weeks have passed, and all that 
composed this expedition, including its traitor 
chief, have fallen dead or alive into your bands 
or into those of the troops sent to pursue them. 
Perhaps history, in all its pages, does not pre- 
sent a single example of invasion so promptly 
and completely exterminated. 

It could not fail to be so. The valor of the 
troops put them to rout in battle ; and y on, 



Jose de la Concha. 
Havana, -Aug. 31, 1861. 

After the above exhibition of fanfar- 
ronade, the Captain General called Ms 
Secretary to the composition of a docu- 
ment of a totally different character — the 
order for the execution of Lopez : 

"government and captain- generalcy of the 
ever-faithful island of ouda. 

Town Orders, for Aug. 31 , 1851. 
By a superior decree of the Most Excellent 
Senor, the Governor and Captain General. Don 
Narciso Lopes, who commanded the band of 
pirates that disembarked at the place called 
Playitas to the leward of this capita), on the 
morning of the 12th inst., has been condemned 
to the infamous punishment of the garrote. The 
execution is to take place at seven o'clock in 
the morning of September 1. The troops of all 
arms composing the garrison of this town, and 
the forces from elsewhere, will assemble at a 
sufficient time beforehand, at the camp of the 
Punta, where the scaffold is placed, around 
which they will form a square. The regiment 
of Gallicia will take its station in front with a 
banner displayed. The other corps will be 



LIFE OF GENERAL NAR0I80 LOBZ 



VI 



said sternly, gritting his teeth, " Wait, 
Sir." He then continued : 

" Adieu ! my beloved Cuba ! Adieu, my 
brethren." 

The General then stepped back, seated 
A priest with the 



present with all their disposable force. The 
artillery will take the right, with the engineers 
next them; the other forces, without distinc- 
tion, will occupy the places assigned them. The 
cavalry will be stationed according to the direc- 
tions of the Brigadier, the Royal Lieutenant j n j mse 
commanding the town, who will command the I % , . 

troops, having under his orders the staff officers ? 0CI ™ and ta P er stood ° n ove side of 
of the army, and an equal number of town adju- i hl ™' the executioner on the other. The 
tante. A true copy. Zubita." ; coIJar w as then placed around the prison- 

er's neck. The priest now placed the 
On Monday morning, Septem b er l s t T at J crucifix hetween the General's bands, and 
dawn of day, a platform, perhaps ten feet just as he was in the act of inclining his 
high, was erected on the fiat space oppo- head to kiss it, the executioner swung the 
site the Moro. P r ojecting up through fatal screw, and the head of the unfortu- 
the platform to a distance of perhaps five;nate man at the same time dropped for- 
feet, was a strong wooden post, fourteen i ward, touching the crucifix. He never 
inches in diameter. To this was fastened moved again. There sat the body of one 
the instrument of death, the garrote. A of the bravest men that ever drew breath, 
stool is placed up against the post, in jbut a moment ago alive, now a ghastly 
which the prisoner sits, and an iron collar | corpse. 

is then clasped around his neck, which i The execution was conducted in the 
fastens him immovably to the post, and j most orderly manner and in perfect si- 
then a screw, having long arms, also at-jlence. No shouting or any other exhibi- 



tached to the post, is by one turn forced 
into the neck of the prisoner, producing 
instant dislocation and death. 



tion of applause was manifest. Whether 
this was the result of respect for the 
heroic hearing and dignified air with 



The troops were assembled at the ap-j which the brave chief faced death, or the 
pointed time, as indicated in the order, express orders of the Captain-General, is 
Just previous to seven o'clock, all the not known. 

American prisoners were brought out and i Thus perished Lopez. A nobler-hearted 
arranged on the Moro, so they could wit-, man never took up arms to strike for suf- 
ness the end of their General. fering humanity; a bolder soldier never 

There were on the ground at the time j raised weapon in the field ; a braver pri- 
3.000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and about soner never went to death with a calmer 
20,000 people. A few minutes before or more intrepid step. He devoted him- 
seven, Lopez was conducted to the steps 'self {[to Freedom and Humanity, and 
leading to the scaffold, which he ascended j evinced the earnestness of his sentiments 
with a calm, firm step. His person was and his confidence in the cause, by offer- 
enveloped in a cloak; as he reached the'ing to it man's chiefest pearl — his life, 
platform, the executioner removed it, and 'Reposing confidence in the false missive 
Lopez appeared in the military uniform in which he found at Key West, he followed 
which he had been taken. the tenor of its treacherous advice — dis- 

His appearance was calm, dignified and covered too late the trick of which he was 
heroic. Not a muscle .quivered. He the victim, and when taken, knew intui- 
looked upon the preparations for death tively the price of his rash confidence, and 
•nmoved ; his countenance changed not, paid it, without a murmur. 
— and his whole bearing was firm and The following are the names and places 



manly. 

The executioner now removed his em- 
broidered coat, his sash, cravat, and all 
the insignia of his military rank, in token 
©I disgrace. 

General Lopez, with his hands tightly 
bound together in front, stepped forward, 
and in a strong, clear voice, slowly spoke 
to those around as follows ; 

" I pray the persons who have compro- 
mised me to pardon me as 1 pardon them. 

" My death will not change the desti- 
nies of Cuba." [The executioner, stand- 
ing a little behind, here interrupted him 
in an insulting tone, with — " Come, be 
quick, be quick."] 

General Lopez, turning his head partly 
around, fixed his eye on the man, and 



of nativity of the prisoners who appeared 
upon the Moro at the time o< the execu- 
tion. It will be seen that they comprise 
only a part of the 155 said by the Span- 
iards to be in their hands : 

York. 
Elias Otis, 
Michael O'Keenen, 
John Danton, 
1st. l,t. P. S. Van Vechtoc. 
M. L. Hefren. 

Washington. 

Capt. Robert Ellis. 
Thomas Hilton. 

Jft . 
1st. Lt. E. H. McDonald, 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



D. D. Waif, 
H. D. Thomason, 
Charles A. DoauDea, 
Emanuel R. Wier. 

New Orleans. 
1st. Lieut. Jas. G. Down, 

J. G. Bush, 
W. Wilson, 
W. Miller, 
P. Lacoste, 
M. Lieger, 
P. Coleman, 
Henry Smith, 
John Cline, 
Geo. Forster, 
C. Knoll, 
Nicholas Port, 
John Martan, 
Patrick McGrath, 
Charles S. Daily, 
Jas. Fiddes, 
S. H. Prenell, 
Conrad Taylor, 
Thomas Denton, 
C. A. McMurray, 
J. Patan, 
Conrad Argkalir, 
Jose Chiceri, 
G. Richardson. 
John B. Brown, 
Thomas S. Lee, 
Capt. James Aquelli, 
Harvey Williams, 
Franklin Boyd. 

Philadelphia. 
Thomas Little, 
Commiss'y J. A. SimpsoD, 
George Wilson, 

Kentucky. 
1st. Lieut. D. D. Rousseau. 

" Robert McGrier, 

J. D. Hughes, 
Wm. H. Vaugale, 
Francis B. Holmes, 
Malbone H. Scott, 

Memphis. 
1st Lieut. W. H. Craft. 

Alabama. 
J. D. Prenit, 
W. L. Wilkinson, 
0. Cook. 

Charleston. 
James Chapman, 

Galena, 111. 
James Brady. 

Petersburg. 
Henry B. Hart. 

St. Louis. 
Jacob Fonts, 
Prestoa Esces. 

Virginia. 
William CameroD. 



Mississippi. 
Thomas Mourou, 
Wilson E. Rieves. 

Ohio. 
Isaac Freeborn. 

United States. 
Cornelius Derby, 
Peter Falbos, 
Benjamin Harrer. ' 

England. 
William Caussans, 
John Nowes. 

Ireland. 
Henry B. Metcalfe, 
George Metcalfe, 
James Porter, 
Thomas McDellaus. 

Cuba. 
Bernardo Allem, 
Julio Chasagne, 
Francisco Curbia y Garcia, 
Ramon J. Arnau, 
Jose Dovren, 
Manuel Martinez, 
Antonio Hernandez, 
Martin Melesimo. 

Germany. 

Johannes Sucit, 
Edward Wisse, 
Wilhelm Losner, 
Robert Seelust, 
Ciriac Senepli. 

Matanzas. 
Ramon Ignacio Amasa. 

Hungary. 
George Baptista. 

New Grenada. 
Andres Gonzalez. 

Alquizar. 
Francisco A. Leve. 

Bayamo. 
Manuel Diaz. 

Navarre. 
Antonio Romero. 
Spain. 
Francisco J. Zamora, 

Not Stated. 
Antonio L. Alfonso, 
Manuel Aragon, 
Jose Boj janotie y Rubina, 
Joaquin Casanova, 
Miguel Guerra, 
Wm. Mac Kinney, 
Dandrig Seay, 
Leonardo Sujlioirt, 
J. D. Baker, 
Luis Bander. 



LIFE OF GENERAL NAROISO LOPEZ. 



29 



The intelligence of the disastrous fate 
of Lopez aDd his men was received by 
the Junta, and its agents, as well as by 
the exiled Cubans in the United States, 
with tears. By these, Lopez was regarded 
as a pure, high-minded, noble-hearted pa- 
triot, and the tears they gave to his mem- 
ory came up from their hearts. Whatever 
might have been the cause of their con- 
^ nection with the enterprise, whether it 
r was founded on sympathy, chivalry, or 
private pecuniary interest, they knew that 
his was dictated by the purest, simplest 
and noblest of motives: and the tears 
they shed were so many tributes, from 
the purer chambers of their souls, to his 
exalted mind, his genuine patriotism, his 
pure worth. They could not have wept 
more agonizingly for a father ; they could 
not have bowed their heads in deeper 



grief for a brother. Their pale, wan faces, 
the spasmodic working of their features, 
the trembling of their voices, as they ask- 
ed one another whether the crushing in- 
telligence could be true, and their low, 
broken cries, the convulsive tremor which 
tore their frames as each shook his head 
with the significant "no hope" in re- 
sponse, attested the sincerity of their woe. 
In their hearts, at least, as in those of all 
who knew and had opportunities of study- 
ing and judging him, the memory of Lo- 
pez will ever be revered ; his name 
everlastingly cherished as that of a pure, 
upright, and high-minded man — a brave, 
generous and unflinching soldier — an un- 
compromising foe oi oppression, and an 
earnest battler for the rights and relief oi 
suffering humanity. 



PARTING WORDS TO THEIR FRIENDS OF A PORTION OF THE 
CRITTENDEN PARTY. 



From Victor Kerr. 

My Dear Felicia: — Adieu, my dear wife, 
this is the last letter that you 'will receive 
from your Victor. In one hour I shall be no 
more. 

Embrace all my friends for me. Never mar- 
ry again ; it is my desire. My adieus to my 
sisters and brothers. Again, a last adieu. I 
die like a soldier. 

Your husband, 

VICTOR KERR. 

August 16, 1851—6 o'clock. 



My Dear Eriends : — I leave you forever, 
and I go to the other world. I am a prisoner 
iu Havana, and in an hour I shall have ceased 
to exist. My dearest friends, think often of me. 
I die worthy of a Creole, worthy of a Louisi- 
anian, and of a Kerr. My dearest friends, 
adieu for the last time. 

Your devoted friend, 

MOTOR KERR. 

To N. Larose, H. Bouligny, Leon Fazende, 
William 6. Vincent, Felix Arrayo. 

August 16, 1851—6:1 o'clock. 

Captain Kerr served his country gallantly in 
our war with Mexico, as the following extract 
of a letter from his commanding officer amply 
testi6ee : 

New York, Aug. 25, 1851. 
I will also state, that Victor Kerr was one 
of the gallant Creoles of Louisiana, enlisted in 
the company (G) I had the honor of recruiting 
and commanding during the Mexican war. He 
was at the battle of Tolouie, fought by Colonel 



Mcintosh, U. S. A., June 6, 1847, and distin- 
guished himself in the highest degree. 
I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, 

Your ob'nt servant, 
A. M. DUPERU", 
late Captain Company G, 3d Dragoons. 

"rom Thomas C. James. 

Spanish Frigate Esperanza, ) 
Harbor of Havana, Aug. 16, 1: 51. J 

My Dear Brothers axd Sisters : — This is 
the last letter you will ever receive from your 
brother Thomas. In one hour more I will be 
launched into eternity, being now a prisoner, 
with rifty others, aboard of this ship, aud now 
under sentence of death. All to be shot ! This 
is a hard fate, but I trust in the mercy of God, 
and will meet my fate manfully. 

Think of me hereafter, not with regret, but 
as one whom you loved in life, and who loved 
you. Adieu, forever, my brother i^-ters and 
friends. 

T I TOM AS C. JAMES. 

Robert, our poor friends, Q. A. Cook, and 
John 0. Bryce, are with me, and send their last 
regard to you; also Clement Stanford, formerly 
of Natchez. 



From Adjutant Htanford. 

Havana, Aug. 1G, 1$1. 

I'.ai. tl.i.i'. : — We arrived on the island at 
Cuba after the most horrible pasen^c> you can 
conceive of, cooped on board with 400 or 500 
men. 

We arrived on Sunday last, I believe — datet 
I have almost forgotten. The next awning 



so 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



Lopez, with General Praguay and all the com- 
manding officers, left us — (I mean Crittenden 
and his bataliou.) "We heard nothing more of 
him for two clays, when Crittenden dispatched 
a note. He then requested we should join him 
at a Utile town some six or eight miles off, leav- 
ing us in the mean time to take care of all the 
baggage, &c. 

We started for him on Wednesday morning 
at two o'clock, and had proceeded only three 
miles when we were attacked by 500 Spanish 
soldiers. In the first charge I received a very 
severe wound in the knee. We repulsed them, 
however. They made another charge, and 
completely Touted us. We spent two days and 
nights, the most miserable you can imagine, in 
the chapparal, without anything to eat or 
drink. 

We mads the best of our way to the sea- 
shore, and foond some boats, with which we 
put to sea. Spent a night upon the ocean, and 
the next day, about 12 o'clock, were taken 
prisoners by the Habanero, were brought to 
Havana last night, and condemned to die this 
morning. We shall all be shot in an hour. 

Good bye and God bless you. I send the 
Masonic medal enclosed in this, belonging to 
my father. Convey it to my sister, Mrs. 

P n, and tell her my fate. Once more, God 

bless you. 

STANFORD. 

From J. Brandt. 

Havana, Aug. 1(5, 1851. 

My Dear Mother : — I have but a few mo- 
ments to live. Fifty of us are condemned to be 
shot within a half hour. I do not value life, 
but deeply regret the grief it will cause you 
to hear of my death. Farewell, then, dear 
mother, sisters and all ; we may meet again in 
another world. Think of me often; forget the 
causes I have given you for grief: remember 
only my virtues. Farewell, again, dearest mo- 
ther, and believe izo to be your affectionate son, 
J. BRANDT. 

Mrs. Maria E. Brandt. 

From H. Vienne, 
On Board the Man-of-War Esperanza, \ 
August 16, 1851. S 

My Dear and Affectionate Sisters and 
Brothers :— Before I die, I am permitted to 
address my last words in this world. 

Deceived by false visions, I embarked in the 
expedition for Cuba. We arrived, about four 
hundred in number, last week, and in about an 
hour from now, we, I mean fifty of us, will be 
lost. I was taken prisoner after an engage- 
ment, and with fifty others, am to be shot in 
an hour. 

I die, my dear brothers and sisters, a repent- 
ant sinner, having been blessed with the last 
rites of our holy religion. Forgive me for all 
the follies of my life, and you, my dear and 
affectionate sisters, pray for my poor souL 

A , go to my dear mother and console 

her. Oh ! my dear child, kiss her a thousand 
times for me. Love her for my sake. Kiss my 
brothers and all your dear children, To Father 



Blackney, my last profound respect ; to Father 
Lacroix and Father D'Hau, a mass for the re- 
pose of my soul. 

My dear mother-in-law, farewell ! Poor Ta- 
cite is shot and dead by this time ! 

I give and bequeath my dear child to you 

and you alone. Good bye, H ; good bye, 

G and T . I did my duty. Good bye, all. 

Tour dear Son and Brother, 

HONORE TACITE VIENNE. 

Mr. Antonio Costa has promised to do all he 
can to obtain my body. If so, please have me 
buried with my wife. 



From Patrick O'Rourke. 
The following letter we find in The Natcliez 
Free Trader of the 27th inst., from a young 
Irishman of that city — one of the sacrificed : 

" The letter below is from Patrick O'Rourk, 
to his poor widowed mother and sisters, living 
in this city. He was a brave and chivalrous 
youth, who never feared danger. His distress- 
ed mother and three sisters are left to mourn 
his untimely death. 

Havana, Aug. 16, 1851. 

My dear Mother and Sisters : — My day is 
come at last. We were taken yesterday on the 
coast of Cuba by a Spanish steamer, and we 
are to be shot in an hour from this time — fifty 
of us in all. I have to say it is my own doings. 

For God's sake pray for me, and tell Father 
Raho to do so too. I have made my confession 
to a Spanish Priest. May God bless you ! and 
keep his eye on you ! Farewell, dear mother ; 
farewell dear sisters — Maria, Margaret and 
Kate. But my last words are, may the Lord 
have merey on my soul, and I hope to see you 
all in heaven, with my father. 

Your affectionate son and brother, 

PATRICK O'ROURK. 



From Thomas H. Hearsey. 

Havana, Aug. IS. 

Dear Mother : — I now sit down to write to 
you these few lines, hoping that you are well, 
and to inform you that your son is condemned 
to death. I hope that we will all meet in hea- 
ven. Dearest mother, bid them all good-bye 
for me, and kiss them. Forgive me, dearest 
mother, for what I have done. God bless you 
all. Tell my dear sister and brothers that I 
shall never see them again on earth, but hope 
to meet them in heaven. 

I have not seen James for several days. — 
When I last saw him he was welL We got 
into an action a day or two after landing, and 
were separated ; but I think he will escape. 

I have had a hard time, dear mother, since I 
arrived, but do not fret. Dear mother, we part 
to meet again. Tell George I have remember- 
ed him ; he was a true friend to me. Tell Mr. 
Glenn good-bye — Claiborne and Letitia, good- 
bye, — Caroline and David, and all my friends 
and relatives, good-bye ! Forgive me, dearest 
mother ; I go to meet my Father in Heaven. 
Farewell, dearest — farewell ! 
Your ever devoted son, 

THOMAS H. HEARSE Y. 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



3] 



I'iiIk Havana Victim — Another Victim. — 
The ibi lowing letter from one of those shot at 
Havana, is addressed to the editor of the Lou- 
isville Courier. The writer belur.ged to Louis- 
ville, where he followed the business of cup- 
ping and leeching. It will be seen that he 
fiercely attacks Lopez — probably under the 
influence of that peculiar irritation which takes 
possession of certain organisations when they 
find themselves in trouble. The idea that 
Lopez deceived his men, is simply and ludi- 
crously absurd. 

H+vana, August 16. 

Mli. W. HaLDEMAN, 

Editor of the Louisville Courier : 
Dear Sir, — I take this last opportunity and 
liberty of sending you this letter, for the bene- 
fit of those who will probably come to Cuba. 
Sir, Gen. Lopej has deceived us all. He is a 
traitor and no gentleman. There is no revolu- 
tion here as the papers have stated. Tell all 
those who intend to visit Cuba, not to come, for 
they all will be shot. There is uo chauce to 
get back again. If any officer has raised a 
company or companies, tell them through your 
paper, if you think proper, to disperse, for the 
expedition is all a great humbug. I don't like 
to see O'Hara bringing men here from Ken- 
tucky to be shot. 

Sir, I am condemned to be shot, and as I 
have only a few minutes to live, I thought I 
would inform you that fifty of us will be shot 
.shortly. Colonel Crittenden, of Louisville is 



"among the lot. Give iin best respects t© ali 
my friends. I would write more, but cannot 
do so for the want of time. 

Very respectfulh . 

J. FISHER, 
Hospital Steward of the Army of Cuba. 

From G. A. Cook. 

Havana, on Board a Man-of-Wae, J 
8 o'clock A. M. Aug. 10, 1851. \ 
Stanton & Co. 

Mr Dear Friends: — About fifty of us — 
Col. Crittenden's command — were taken pris- 
oners yesterday ; have not received our sen- 
tence yet, but no doubt we will be shot before 
sunset. Lopez, the scoundrel, has deceived ns ; 
there is no doubt that all those reports about 
the Cuban rising were trumped up in New Or- 
leans. Lopez took nearly his command and 
deserted us. We were attacked by 6ome 500 
or 700 of the Queen's troops the second day 
after we landed. Our own gallant Crittenden 
did all that any man could do — but we saw we 
had been deceived, and retreated to the sea- 
shore, with the intention of getting off to our 
country, if possible. Got three boats, and got 
off with the inteution of coasting uutil wc fell 
in with an American vessel, and were taken 
prisoners by the steamboat Habanero. 

Explain to my family that I have done 
nothing but was instigated by the highest mo- 
tives, that I die with a clear conscience and like 
a man with a stout heart. I send my watch 
to you, it is for little Benny, my nephew. Good 
bye, God bless you all. 

Truly yours, GILMAN A. COOK. 



BRIEF NOTICES OF THE LIVES AND CHARACTERS OF SOME OF 
CRITTENDEN'S COMMAND. 



COL. WILLIAM S. CRITTENDEN. 
From the Louisville Courier, Aug. 25. 
The Colonel Crittenden who was one of the 
AmericauB executed at Havana was, doubt- 
less, William Crittenden, formerly of this city, 
and brother of John Grittendan, late Marshal 
of the Chancery Court here. Patrick Dillon, 
Dr. Fisher, ant) Manville, who were also exe- 
cuted ' • Qe time, were from this city, 
and we understand some two or three others 
of the unfortunates were from Indiana. 



From (lie Nan Orleans Trut Delta. 
Long auu,well did we know him. We kuew 
him first in the Mexican war, and in many a 
bivouac shared his blauket Educated at West 
Point, he graduated with honor. At the open- 
ing of that war, he occupied the position of 
adjutant of the 1st. infantry, aud for several 
months discharged the highly responsible du- 
ties of post adjutant at Vera Oxuz, with morit- 
ed honor. He was the son of a brother of the 
distinguished gentleman who now fills the 
office of attorney-gcncAl of the U nited States. 



His father emigrated to Arkansas, when that 
state was in its infancy, and died in eaglf life, 
filling a community with universal regret for 
the loss of a man as highly endowed with the 
loftiest virtues, as he was gifted with the rarest 
genius. 

Will Crittenden, as he was familiarly named 
by his friends, was worthy of the stock whence 
he sprung. A nobler specimen of the Ken- 
tucky gentleman, a worthier servant or citizen 
of the Republic, we have never met. A lion 
heart, a love of truth, of honor, and of liberty, 
were his. An accomplished soldier, a votary 
of letters, he was as gentle as he was brave. 
At the close of the Mexican war, he resigned 
his military office, aud became a citizen of New 
Orleans, where he resided until he ombarked 
with Lopez. 

Our blood has boiled to hear the base inucn 
does of the argued lip-lovers of Cuban free- 
dom against him, as well as his companions, 
for permitting themselves to be captured. The 
dying missives of his compatriots reveal the 
causes that compelled his heroic soul to yield, 
ff ever a man fell a victim to atrocious deeep' 



n 



LIFE OF GENERAL NARCISO LOPEZ. 



tion, it was he. A few days before he left, we 
met' him, and a wish that we would aceom- 
pany him was expressed. — We earnestly ad- 
vised him against embarking in the enterprise ; 
we spoke our incredulity of the reports that 
the Cubans had risen. He answered that he 
was no freebooter ; that he could not be in- 
duced to join the expedition, were not the peo- 
ple of Cuba in arms against their rulers. 



my brother, with whom he had passed through 
many dangers, and to whom he was warmly 
attached, was made but a few hours before 
the expedition sailed. He had no knowledge 
whatever of the plan of operation. My brother 
and myself, from motives of friendship and 
regard, knowing that he was the only surviving 
son of a large family, endeavored to dissuade 
him from going ; but his mind was made up, 



That a revolution had actually commenced, and he said he would shrink from no dangers 



that the Cubans were in -the iield, he assured 
us he knew from statements of parties who had 
given him their confidence. Against this faith, 
we had nothing but our incredulity to present, 
and we parted never to meet again. We have 
felt it a. solemn duty to state this, to remove 
the impression that he, from his position in the 
expedition, was a party to the cruel artifices 
practiced by the unseen heads of the scheme. 



which his old friend Thomas C. James might 

encounter. I am satisfied that he could have 

had no consultation with Gen. Lopez before he 

left. I would also add my belief, as one who- 

felt deeply the effects of the calamity, that 

the command of Col. Crittenden could not have 

been deserted by Gen. Lopez, but that the 

gallant old man no doubt did all that mortal 

could do to save the very flower of his little 

army, and that their destruction was effected 

somewhat in the manner described by General 

Huston, in Sunday's Delta— by the unexpected 

interposition of a large Spanish force between 

the party with Gen. Lopez, and the command 

of Col. Crittenden, which had charge of the 

kaggage. In justice to the old hero, I would 

oppose the charges of his assailants in this 

city, who accuse him of treachery, my own, 
knew .him g4L m days jaud what l bdieye ig the sei - ltimcnt of nea;rly 

our whole people, that his conduct was brave 
and honest. 

Ilespectmllv, your obedient servant, 

E. W. JAMES. 



LIEUT. THOMAS C. JAMES. 

From the Wilmington (N. 0.) Herald. 

Among the victims of the recent execution 
in Havana, a report of which will be found in 
another column, we were, pained to discover 
the name of Lieut. Thomas James, formerly 
of this place 

gone by, for he was a school- fellow of ours, and j 
we can bear willing testimony to the many ex- ! 
cellent qualities of his mind and heart. He 
was of an ardent, impulsive temperament, fond 
of excitement and adventure, and was de- 
servedly esteemed while a resident here. But 
he has fallen in the full flush of manhood, and 
whatever may be the shades of opinion with 
regard to the character of the cause in which 
he was enlisted, still the warmer emc 
our nature cannot but revolt at the inhuman 
sacrifice which robbed him and his daring asso- 
dates of life. One consolation, at least, re- 
mains to his kindred and friends — and it is that 
he died like a hero, without a sign of fear. 

From the Ne<«> Orleans Delta. 
We give below a letter sent to us by Col. 
E,. W. James, brother of that gallant young 
man, Thomas C. James, who was one of the 
fifty' so cruelly murdered in Havana. Col. 
James was also the intimate friend of Mr. G. 
A. Cook, (another of the murdered patriots,) 
having accompanied him thiough a long and 
perilous service in the reconnoisance of the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec :— 

New Orleans, August 25, 1851. 
Though oppressed with grief for the loss of 
a beloved brother, and of my dear friend Gil- 
man A. Cook, who was brutally murdered in 
Havana, on the 16th inst, by the Spanish author - 
ities, I cannot refrain from performing an act of 
duty by stating what my intimacy with Mr. 
Cook enables me to say— that, ' in going to 
Cuba, he was neither deceived nor persuaded 
by any one, but acted from his own nobte im- 
pulses, which were always on the side of the 
oppressed. 



From the New Orleans Crescent. 

A letter from Alex. McAleer, one of the 
Havana victims, to Mr. John McGinn, was 
shown to us yesterday. Mr. McA. writes that 
on the 12th of August they had a fight with 
the Spaniards, killing thirty of them and losing- 
three men ; that they then returned to take a 
vessel for New Orleans, but not arriving in 
time, took four boats and put to sea, and were 
oaptured. The remainder of his letter is in 
reference to private matters. 



From the Washington Southern Press. 

We learn that Alexander M. Colchett, one 
of the victims of Cuban vengeance, was the 
son of a wealthy and highly respectable mer- 
chant of Charleston, S. C., and a brother ol 
John M. Colchett, of the firm of John M. Col- 
chett & Co., of New Orleans. He was be- 
tween 20 and 21 years of age, and a respecta- 
ble member of one of the most wealthy and 
respected families of South Carolina. He had 
resided for some time in New Orleans, and was 
a member of the Washington Artillery, of 
that city. 



The St. Louis Republican states that S. C. 
Jones and T. C. Veasy, included in the list of 
the persons shot at Havana, were two young 



His determination to accompany j and promising lawyers of that city, 



